Ye Ordered To Pay $140K To Handyman In 'David-Vs.-Goliath' Case: Lawyer
LOS ANGELES, CA — Jurors Wednesday awarded $140,000 to a handyman who alleged his client was not fully compensated for work overseeing a renovation project at the Malibu mansion of rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West.Plaintiff Tony Saxon maintained in his Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit that Ye, 48, agreed to pay him $20,000 per week under a 2021 deal, but only turned over one $20,000 payment and $100,000 for constructions costs. The jury buzzed with a verdict just after 4 p.m. Tuesday and Judge Brock Hammond sent the panel home due to the late hour. The verdict was read mid-morning on Wednesday. Saxon's attorneys had asked for $1.7 million and the lead lawyer, Ronald Zambrano, issued a statement after the verdict was read."Today's mixed verdict is a vindication for our client, Tony Saxon," Zambrano said. "Ye's lawyers called him a liar, a fraud and a malingerer in court. His medical records, bank records and personal family history were dissected, mocked and vilified. Ye's team demanded that Tony pay them to resolve the case and issue a public apology. Most people would have folded." Instead, "in true David-vs.-Goliath fashion ... (Saxon) stood firm against one of the biggest celebrities in the world, with the truth on his side," according to Zambrano.Although the amount awarded was less than what Saxon's lawyers sought, after attorneys' fees are likely awarded, Ye may have to pay more than $1 million total, attorney Neama Rahmani said. Rahmani is the president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, which represented Saxon. In testimony Friday, Ye said he didn't know if he was the CEO of one of his companies, Yeezy Construction."I'm not sure," or something similar was his frequent reply to questions from Zambrano. However, Ye appeared to go out of his way to disparage Saxon by saying he smelled bad.In his lawsuit, Saxon maintains he was forced to sleep on the mansion floor while acting as a security guard and fired in November 2021 for not complying with Ye's "dangerous requests" that could cause the plaintiff to be injured. Saxon maintains he often complained to Ye about various dangers during the remodeling. Saxon alleges that workers unsafely demolished parts of the house with no safety equipment, yet Ye took no action addressing the complaints. The day Ye fired Saxon, the singer told him, "If you don't do what I say, you're not going to work for me, I'm not gonna be your friend anymore and you'll just see me on TV," the suit filed in September 2023 states. When Saxon replied, "I don't watch TV," Ye said, "Leave," the suit states. In October, Hammond ruled that Ye should pay Saxon $3,320 in sanctions. An attorney for the plaintiff stated in his court papers that the rapper failed to abide by code requirements by delaying in serving verified responses to Saxon's interrogatories posed to him in 2023.Interrogatories are sets of written questions. A verified response is a formal, written answer to a legal request, such as a court document or discovery request, that is signed under oath to confirm that the information is true and accurate. City News Service
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