Megan Thee Stallion's lawyers ask federal judge to dismiss photographer's lawsuit
The employment lawsuit is with U.S. District Judge Hernan D. Vera in Los Angeles, but defense attorneys for the rapper want the case moved to New York.
Lawyers for rapper Megan Thee Stallion are asking a California federal judge to dismiss her a defendant in a lawsuit from her former photographer. They also want the case transferred to New York and say she’ll have to reschedule concert tour dates if it isn’t.
A motion filed Tuesday says Emilio Garcia’s lawsuit has no legitimate ties to California and should be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
“This case involves an alleged incident that occurred out of the country, an out-of-state plaintiff, and an out-of-state defendant with no minimum contacts with California,” according to the 24-page motion from Mari F. Henderson, Julian T. Schoen and Alex Spiro of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP.
Megan is a resident of Miami, Florida, who does not own property in California. “Ms. Pete regularly performs both national and international tour dates in cities such as New York, Memphis, Denver, Tokyo, London, Berlin, Paris, Rio De Janeiro, and many others,” the motion says, referring to Megan’s legal name, Megan Pete. Of her 45 tour dates in 2022, four were in California.
If a judge dismisses Megan as a defendant because of lack of jurisdiction, the order likely will allow for the claims to be re-filed against her in New York. Her lawyers are expected to seek permanent dismissal over the merits of the claims at a later date.
Garcia’s lawsuit alleges he was wrongly classified as a contractor instead of a full-time employee when he toured the world with Megan as her photographer from March 2020 to June 2023. It includes a claim of hostile work environment harassment and alleges Garcia witnessed Megan having sex with a woman in a car in Ibiza, Spain, and later was insulted by her repeatedly after he complained about his working conditions.
In a court filing last month, Megan’s lawyers called Garcia “a con artist” who wants to tarnish her reputation after he was fired for falsifying invoices and overcharging her. The dismissal motion does not argue the merits of Garcia’s nine claims, but it calls them “false” and says the harm against Garcia “does not” exist.
Megan’s lawyers moved the lawsuit to federal court last month and said it should be sent to the Southern District of New York in Manhattan because Garcia’s contract specifies disputes have jurisdiction in New York state.
Along with the dismissal motion, they filed a 24-page motion on Tuesday seeking to officially transfer the case. It says Garcia’s lawyers agree to New York jurisdiction. His lead attorney also told Legal Affairs and Trials last month he’s fine with the case being in federal court.
Megan’s lawyers say she’ll be “be greatly inconvenienced” if the case stays in California.
“She is currently on a worldwide tour with stops in Dallas, Glasgow, Manchester, Paris, Dublin, London, and many others,” according to the motion. “If this case remains in California, she will not only be required to reschedule her tour dates, but she will also be required to repeatedly fly across the country to participate in hearings, discovery, and a potential trial at her own expense.”
Megan’s management company, Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, also is a defendant in the case. Friday’s dismissal motion does not include the company but describes it as a “sham defendant.”
The motion says Garcia’s lawyers likely will want to put Roc Nation officials under oath for depositions, including Chief Financial Officer Sean Mulvehill and Chief Executive Officer Desiree Perez, who reside in New York and New Jersey and are subject to Southern District of New York subpoenas.
It also says Megan’s security guard, Tom Lang, “who was present for several interactions between Plaintiff and Ms. Pete” lives in New York and will be a defense witness. Megan’s accountants at Rockefeller Capital Management, Isabelle Kuzmich, Jason McMillen and Alexandra Sidoti, also are potential defense witnesses, and all three live in New York.
“Another witness may be Akil McCoy, the makeup artist Plaintiff purports to have confided in but who has not supported his allegations,” according to the motion, which says McCoy lives in Atlanta.
Megan’s lawyers also plan to identify Garcia’s other employers to try to refute his claim that he was wrongly classified as a contractor and should be paid back wages for breaks and overtime he would be due as a full-time employee.
“After further discovery is complete, Defendants intend to identify and call these clients as witnesses to disprove Plaintiff’s misclassification claims and false allegations that he only worked for Ms. Pete,” according to a declaration from Henderson, a partner in Quinn Emanuel’s Los Angeles office. “Upon information and belief, Plaintiffs other clients are citizens of Texas.”
Other potential witnesses include Megan’s friends Travis Farris and Jalea Mitchell “who were present for her interactions with Plaintiff.”
“Both Mr. Farris and Ms. Mitchell live in Texas and will cooperate with discovery efforts in New York,” according to the motion. “In sum, New York is a more convenient location for the non-party witnesses.”
A hearing on the dismissal and transfer motions is scheduled for Aug. 22 before U.S. District Judge Hernan D. Vera in Los Angeles.
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Megan Thee Stallion's lawyers call man suing her a 'con artist' w/ a 'frivolous' case
Rapper Megan Thee Stallion’s lawyers say a photographer suing her for lost wages and hostile work environment harassment is “a con artist” who wants to tarnish her reputation after he was fired for falsifying invoices and overcharging her. A new 18-page filing
In other news
My coverage of Tory Lanez’s two-day sentencing hearing in August 2023 for shooting Megan placed 1st for “best use of social media by an independent journalist” at the Los Angeles Press Club’s Souther California Journalism Awards on Sunday. This is my third year in a row placing 1st in the category. (My coverage of an appellate decision throwing a judge off a civil rights case placed 1st last year, and my coverage of federal court hearings over homelessness in Los Angeles placed 1st the year before.)
An article I wrote on the Conception boat manslaughter trial also placed third for “best online general news story.”
I also placed 1st for “best news story” at the Orange County Press Club awards for an article I freelanced for the Dana Point Times in May 2023 about a murder on a boat in the Pacific Ocean that was tried in federal court. The judge said, “It’s not easy to make legalese understandable to the masses. Meghann does.”
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