Harassment case against Lizzo tossed out of court: ‘She is not going to stop fighting’
Lizzo won’t go down without a fight.
The “Truth Hurts” singer’s tour company won a case in California court on Monday, dismissing several claims that have generated negative publicity for the musician.
In September 2023, Asha Daniels, a former stylist for Lizzo’s Big Grrrl Big Tour company, filed a lawsuit alleging racial and sexual harassment by members of Lizzo’s management team, a hostile work environment and unpaid over time.
On Monday, Judge Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha granted a partial motion to dismiss several of her claims on the basis that Daniels worked for Lizzo while on tour in Europe, where US labor laws do not apply.
“These allegations do not establish plausibly that any portion of plaintiff’s claim arose from work performed in the United States or qualifying territories,” Aenlle-Rocha said.
The California federal court judge also said Daniels did not show any evidence that she accrued overtime related to her wardrobe design work for Big Grrrl Big Tour.
An insider close to Lizzo told The Post the entertainer won’t stop fighting the “false” allegations made against her, and refuses to settle.
“There’s a reason that Lizzo continues to fight long after most public figures would have settled – because these allegations are false and can’t be allowed to stand,” the insider told The Post. “She is not going to stop fighting until every single one of these ridiculous smears is dismissed.”
In December 2023, Lizzo’s lawyer filed an objection to Daniels’ claims in Los Angeles Superior Court, calling them a “meritless and salacious action after less than three weeks of employment,” alleging she “refused to comply with instructions from her supervisors and tour management.”
Daniels’s suit also claimed that Lizzo’s wardrobe manager’s conduct violated the Americans with Disabilities Act when she demanded she change out of comfortable shoes, a day after she claimed the wardrobe manager ran over her foot with a clothing rack.
Daniels also filed several claims against Lizzo and tour manager Carlina Gugliotta alleging she was subjected to racial and sexual harassment, violating Title VII, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.
But Lizzo’s team argued that Daniels’ complaint identified the wardrobe manager, Lizzo and Gugliotta as managing agents and not specifically her employer, touring company Big Girrrl Big Tour.
Judge Aenelle-Rocha ruled in favor of Lizzo and the managers, citing that individual defendants cannot be held liable for damages under Title VII and throwing out Daniels’ argument that “employer” was used as a broad term.
The ruling backed up previous claims from Lizzo’s rep Stefan Friedman who told ABC News in September 2023 that Daniels “never actually met or even spoke with Lizzo.”
Lizzo first came under fire in August 2023 when three of her former tour dancers — Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez — filed a lawsuit against the “Good As Hell” singer and her Big Grrrl Big Touring company. They alleged sexual misconduct and hostile workplace conditions, claiming the singer physically threatened, weight-shamed and sexually harassed them.
Lizzo’s lawyers denied every claim at the time, calling the lawsuit “outrageous.”
In October 2023, Lizzo’s lawyers requested to have the suit dismissed under the basis of California’s anti-SLAPP statute — known as “strategic lawsuits against public participation, a law put in place to end meritless suits that threaten free speech — Billboard reported.
Things began looking up for Lizzo this past February when Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mark H. Epstein tossed some of the dancers’ claims, including the hot button charge that Lizzo, who built her brand on self-love and female empowerment, fat-shamed one of her dancers. But the case will still continue to trial.
Meanwhile, Lizzo appears to be moving forward.
In October, she backtracked on previous previous comments in which she said she was taking a “gap year” amid the on-going lawsuits.
“Gap year? Girl, who said gap year?” she told Fortune’s Deputy Editorial Director Ellie Austin. “I’ve just been working, working, working. You may not see me, but I’ve been working.”
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