LOS ANGELES — A former cameraman for Megan Thee Stallion who alleges he was trapped inside a moving vehicle with the hip-hop star in a foreign country while she had sex with a woman has filed a lawsuit lawsuit accusing the artist of harassment and hostile work. environment.
Emilio Garcia said in the lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court that after the alleged incident, he was warned, “never discuss what you saw,” and reprimanded, humiliated, and treated differently by Megan.
The “harassment was so severe or pervasive” that it created a “hostile and abusive work environment” that made Garcia’s “working conditions intolerable,” the suit says.
“This is a request for employment for money – without any sexual harassment complaints filed and with salacious accusations to try to embarrass him. We will deal with this in court,” said Megan Thee Stallion’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, on Tuesday.
Representatives for Roc Nation did not respond to requests for comment.
Garcia started working for Megan Thee Stallion, real name Megan Pete, as a personal camera operator in 2018, left her job in 2019 to pursue full-time work with the Grammy winner and worked for her until ‘in June 2023, the lawsuit states.
Garcia said in the lawsuit that he traveled with Megan to Ibiza, Spain, in June 2022 and that while they were in an SUV with Megan and three other women after a night out, Megan and one of the women started having sex next to him in the moving car.
“I felt uncomfortable. I was a little frozen and I was shocked. Kind of just be the general audacity to do it right, right next to me,” Garcia told NBC News in an interview.
The next day, the rapper asked Garcia if he was in the car with them the night before, and when he confirmed he was, Megan told him, “Don’t ever discuss what you saw “, says the lawsuit.
Garcia said in his lawsuit that during the same trip, Megan hurled shameful insults at him, calling him a “fat bitch” and telling him to “spit out your food” and “you don’t need to eat.” .
“To hear someone who advocates loving your body say those things to me,” Garcia said in the interview, “I felt degraded.”
When they returned from the trip, Garcia said in the lawsuit, his pay structure changed from a monthly flat rate to a pay-per-task system that required him to submit invoices for each assignment.
He said he was expected to provide the same services despite the change in pay structure, but alleges he was treated differently after the Ibiza trip and saw a decrease in the bookings Megan had hired him for .
Garcia began considering quitting her job due to “Megan’s possessiveness combined with a lack of appropriate pay for the time required of her” and a lack of bookings, the suit states.
Garcia remained on schedule for a job in June 2023, but the night before, Roc Nation informed him that “his services would no longer be required” by Megan, according to the lawsuit.
While working for Megan, Garcia “experienced a barrage of incessant sexual and shaming comments plunging him into deep emotional distress,” the suit states.
“What I’ve learned over the years is that, especially coming from an office environment, you know, there’s no HR department in the entertainment business,” Garcia told NBC News in an interview. “So if you don’t know you’re wrong, you don’t really know how to defend yourself until you start asking maybe your peers who are represented, they have agents, they have management, they have a lawyer. So I just want to encourage people to stand up for themselves.
The alleged behavior caused Garcia to face loss of income and other job benefits, as well as physical injury, physical illness and emotional distress, according to the lawsuit.
The suit says that while he worked for the artist, he did not have basic insurance coverage and therefore could not get the care he needed. Today, he “struggles with increasing anxiety, depression and physical distress resulting from a toxic work environment,” according to the suit.
“Megan simply needs to pay our client what he is owed, acknowledge his behavior and stop this kind of sexual harassment and shameful conduct,” Ron Zambrano, Garcia’s attorney, said in a statement to NBC News. “Emilio should never have been forced to be in the vehicle with her while she had sex with another woman. “Inappropriate” is putting it lightly. Exposing this behavior to employees is definitely illegal.
Garcia’s lawsuit also outlines alleged employment and wage violations that focus on his classification as an independent contractor.
The lawsuit alleges that Megan barred him from working for anyone else and was denied overtime and break pay.
His misclassification as an independent contractor “left him without basic insurance coverage, depriving him of essential health care,” the suit states.
Garcia told NBC News in an interview that he was looking for more than six figures. The lawsuit targets unpaid wages, as well as interest on unpaid wages, unpaid overtime and other fringe benefits at the statutory rate. He also seeks statutory sanctions and wage penalties under California labor law, punitive damages based on the evidence and costs he incurred, including attorney’s fees.
Diana Dasrath reported from Los Angeles and Rebecca Cohen from New York.
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News Source : www.nbcnews.com
