Kanye West
Ex-Employee Wants Him to Cough Up $1.2 Million
Published
The jury already hit Kanye West with a hefty tab … and now a former employee who won a civil case against the rapper earlier this year is now asking a judge to make Kanye cough up $1.2 million in attorney’s fees.
According to new court docs, obtained by TMZ, Anthony Saxon Netelkos says his legal team is entitled to the massive payout after a jury awarded him $140,000 in damages after finding Ye liable under California’s Labor Code.
Saxon’s team says they logged more than 740 attorney hours over the nearly three-year fight, plus additional litigation staff time, and are asking the court to apply a 1.75 multiplier to the fee total because of what they describe as the case’s complexity and risk.
Back in March, a jury found Kanye failed to provide workers’ compensation insurance and awarded Saxon $140K.
In the new filing, Saxon’s attorneys argue the litigation stretched 35 months, involved five different defense lawyers, extensive discovery, multiple depositions, and a two-week jury trial … while costing their firm more than $300,000 out of pocket. They also say the case was handled on contingency — meaning they weren’t guaranteed a payday if they lost.
The filing also takes aim at Kanye’s litigation tactics … claiming his side made a $100,000 settlement offer just before trial, then later demanded Saxon pay $200,000 and issue a public apology after proceedings had already begun. Saxon’s attorneys say they rejected both and pressed on to a trial, which they ended up winning.
They also accuse Kanye’s camp of making the fight even tougher by filing a separate lawsuit against them before trial and attempting to use that dispute as leverage during settlement talks.
Now it’ll be up to the judge to decide whether the rapper’s $140K trial loss turns into a legal tab in the seven figures.
Stay tuned …