In April, Megan Thee Stallion’s former cameraman Emilio Garcia sued her for harassment and labor code violations. The rapper’s legal team initially called Garcia’s claims “frivolous,†and has since followed up with a formal denial in a new court filing.
‘We will deal with this in court’
April 24, 2024: Megan Thee Stallion responded to the harassment lawsuit filed against her through a lawyer on April 23. Emilio Garcia, former cameraman for the rapper, alleges he was forced to watch the rapper have sex in a moving vehicle, among other complaints in the suit. “This is an employment claim for money — with no sexual harassment claim filed and with salacious accusations to attempt to embarrass her,†Megan’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, told “Page Six.†“We will deal with this in court.†Garcia sued the Grammy-award winning artist citing a hostile work environment, harassment, and multiple labor code violations. Her label, Roc Nation; Hot Girl Touring; and her management company are also named in the lawsuit.
“Such harassment was so severe or pervasive that it altered the terms and conditions of Plaintiff’s employment, creating a hostile, abusive work environment and making his working conditions intolerable,†the lawsuit reads, according to documents obtained by Vulture. Garcia worked with Megan from 2018 until he was fired in June 2023. His attorney say it was “direct retaliation for his complaints,†“Page Six†reported.
Garcia alleges he was trapped in a moving SUV when Megan and a woman began to have sex in Spain in June 2022, according to the lawsuit. He claims he felt traumatized by the ordeal and was instructed by the rapper “don’t ever discuss what you saw†when she learned he was present in the vehicle. Elsewhere in the filing, Megan is accused of berating and fat-shaming Garcia, failing to pay him commensurately with his work “during all waking hours of the day,†and switching to a “pay-per-task†invoicing system that “significantly†reduced his overall salary. The former cameraman said the “toxic work environment†left him with “mounting anxiety, depression, and physical distress,†according to the filing.
‘Plaintiff is a con artist’
May 30, 2024: Megan Thee Stallion’s legal team has issued a formal denial of her ex-cameraman Emilio Garcia’s allegations of harassment and labor code violations. In a new court filing obtained by Rolling Stone and Billboard, lawyers Mari Henderson and Alex Spiro said Garcia’s lawsuit “consists almost entirely of falsehoods, misrepresentations of fact, and outlandish claims that have no basis in fact or law and no merit.†If that wasn’t strong enough, they went on to describe him as a “con artist who is manipulating the judicial system to act as his publicist and bullhorn in a desperate attempt to boost his failed singing career.â€
The lawyers claim that Megan fired Garcia in June 2023 because he had a pattern of falsifying invoices, overcharging for services he didn’t complete, and asking for reimbursement for purchases he didn’t make. Allegedly, Garcia, mad about losing his job, then filed his “factually and legally frivolous†lawsuit. His complaint includes allegations that he was not paid commensurately, was fat-shamed and berated by Megan, and was forced to watch her have sex in a moving vehicle. Megan’s lawyers are suggesting that Garcia “took a run of the mill wage and labor dispute and trumped up his frivolous claims with sensationalist false allegations of sex, debauchery, and workplace harassment for the sole purpose of creating a media firestorm to tarnish [Megan’s] career and reputation.â€
Garcia’s lawyer, Ron Zambrano, issued a statement describing the filing “another attempt by another celebrity to shame the victim and shift blame from their own abhorrent behavior.†Zambrano also claimed that Megan did not bring up issues about invoices or charges until after Garcia sued. “Her attorneys are correct, our client is angry, but not by being so-called exiled ‘from the inner circles of stardom.’ He’s angry because of how he was treated,†the statement concluded. “Megan Thee Stallion broke the law. Period. No one is lying here but her.â€
This post has been updated.