A judge has found that two lawsuits involving former Lizzo employees accusing the singer of repeated sexual and racial harassment are similar enough that he will preside over both.
On Monday, Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Mark H. Epstein “discussed” the case brought by former Lizzo wardrobe designer Asha Daniels on Sept. 2. He scheduled a case management conference in both cases for Jan. 26.
Daniels’ case was heard by Judge H. Jay Ford III before Epstein’s ruling. Her lawsuit names as defendants the artist, whose real name is Melissa Jefferson; her production company, Big Grrrl Big Touring Inc.; her wardrobe manager Amanda Nomura; and her tour manager Carlina Gugliotta.
Daniels designed the wardrobe for the dancers who will be on Lizzo’s 2023 tour. The plaintiffs’ other causes of action include disability discrimination, retaliatory wrongful termination and assault. She is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
In their lawsuit, the three former dancers claim they were shamed for their weight and forced to endure unlawful sexual, religious, racial and disability discrimination.
In an earlier response, Lizzo, 35, denied the plaintiffs’ allegations and said that “there is nothing I take more seriously than the respect we deserve as women in the world.”
Daniels, who, like Lizzo is Black, hoped to collaborate with the performer and her team because of the values the singer displays in public, but it turned out to be the opposite, the plaintiffs said in the lawsuit. But throughout her work with Lizzo, Daniels heard racist and “fatphobic” comments from Nomura, who repeatedly made fun of both Lizzo and the singer’s dancers, the plaintiffs said in court papers.
Nomura imitated the dancers and Lizzo, creating an offensive stereotypical impression of a black woman, according to Daniels’ court documents, which further state that Nomura called black women on tour “dumb,” “useless” and “fat.”
Daniels frequently complained to Nomura, who rebuffed the plaintiffs, Daniels said in court papers.
According to Daniels’ court documents, which further state that the plaintiffs were fired in March and suffer from anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, migraines, blurred vision, brain fog and fatigue.