Lizzo and her company Big Grrrl Big Touring have hit back at the second lawsuit filed by a former employee who made allegations of racial and sexual harassment, assault and illegal retaliatory termination against her former employer.
A new filing with the courts claims that that former member of Lizzo's touring crew, clothing designer Asha Daniels, "refused to comply with instructions from her supervisors and tour management, failed to perform the work that she was assigned and, eventually, just played hooky and refused to show up for work. Unsurprisingly, she was terminated after abandoning her post on the day of a concert in Paris, France".
Daniels went legal in September, following the lead of three former members of Lizzo's dance team, who made similar allegations in a lawsuit filed the previous month. The designer said that, given how Lizzo talks about diversity and positivity in public, she was expecting to be working in a “healthy, diverse environment with virtues of respect and empowerment of women. Unfortunately, the opposite turned out to be true".
A lot of her specific allegations targeted Amanda Nomura, who was wardrobe manager on the tour. However, the lawsuit also made more general criticisms about working practices put in place by Lizzo and her management team.
Despite the disparaging statement about Daniels, the formal response to her lawsuit mainly raises jurisdiction issues. The litigation was filed with the courts in California. But, the new court filing goes on, "plaintiff has alleged that she is a New York resident who worked for a Delaware corporation in Europe. She has alleged no nexus to California and therefore has not established any basis to obtain redress pursuant to California statute".
To that end, Team Lizzo want Daniels' lawsuit to be dismissed.
Responding to the new legal filing, a legal rep for Daniels, Ron Zambrano, told reporters: “This motion was expected and is yet another Hail Mary by Lizzo’s team to try to shift blame to the victims, as she has done to the three other plaintiffs who have sued her for similar allegations of harassment, disability discrimination and retaliatory termination".
"Lizzo and her lawyers can continue trying to rationalise her illegal and wretched conduct", he added, "but we remain committed to seeking justice for our clients, and look forward to our day in court where Lizzo can explain her behaviour in a public forum".