Ye seeks dismissal of wrongful termination lawsuit before January trial

Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, has asked a court in Los Angeles to dismiss a wrongful termination and harassment lawsuit without a trial.

The request, known as a motion for summary judgment, asks the judge to decide the case on the papers because Ye's side says the evidence does not support a trial. A hearing on the motion is set for Dec. 17, with trial in the case scheduled for January, according to Rolling Stone.

The case was brought in November 2024 by Murphy Aficionado. He alleges he was hired in late 2022 as a project manager for Yeezy, Ye's clothing and footwear business, at a rate of 125 US dollars an hour.

Aficionado alleges he routinely worked 70-hour weeks and sometimes slept at the office to keep up with Ye's demands. He also claimed he was dismissed after pushing back on a plan to move Donda Academy, the K-12 private Christian school founded by Ye, as earlier reported by Rolling Stone.

Ye disputes that account entirely. His motion argues Aficionado never worked for Yeezy. Instead, it says, he taught a temporary, part-time engineering class at Donda Academy that ended when the school shut down.

For that teaching work, the motion states, Aficionado was paid 52 US dollars an hour. It also states that Donda Academy's principal never heard him complain about working conditions.

Ye's filing goes further and denies any employment relationship between Yeezy and Aficionado. It points to what it says is missing: no employment application, no offer letter, no onboarding record, no personnel file, no employee email account, no work schedule and no supervisory assignment.

"Plaintiff's sensational allegations in the complaint read more like material for tabloid headlines than a case supported by evidence," the filing states.

On the harassment claim, Ye argues Aficionado has not identified specific conduct tied to a protected characteristic under the law. The motion says his responses during discovery, the pre-trial exchange of evidence, describe no particular incident and identify no particular comment linking the alleged conduct to such a characteristic.

The judge will now weigh those arguments at the December hearing. If the motion fails, the case remains on course for trial in January.