A personal cameraman who worked for Megan Thee Stallion between 2018 and 2023 is suing the artist, claiming she subjected him to a hostile work environment that included sexual harassment and labor code violations. In his lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles and obtained by Rolling Stone, Emilio Garcia alleges he was terminated in retaliation for his complaints about wage and hour issues.
In his most explicit claim, Garcia alleges he was traveling with Megan Thee Stallion in Ibiza, Spain, in June 2022 when the hip-hop star “suddenly” started to engage in sexual contact with another woman “right beside” him in a moving vehicle. “Plaintiff was embarrassed, mortified and offended throughout the whole ordeal,” the lawsuit states.
Garcia alleges the singer, whose legal name is Megan Pete, also made disparaging comments about his weight and contacted him “at all hours” to brainstorm TikTok videos and edit content. He alleges he was terminated the night before a scheduled gig after he confided in Pete’s makeup artist that he felt mistreated and was considering leaving because Pete had started working with another cameraman.
A representative for Pete did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. The recording artist was sued along with her personal and touring companies, as well as Roc Nation.
“Megan just needs to pay our client what he’s due, own up to her behavior and quit this sort of sexual harassment and fat shaming conduct,” plaintiff’s attorney Ron Zambrano, a partner and Employment Litigation Chair at West Coast Employment Lawyers in Los Angeles, said in a statement. “Emilio should never have been put in a position of having to be in the vehicle with her while she had sex with another woman. ‘Inappropriate’ is putting it lightly. Exposing this behavior to employees is definitely illegal.”
According to the lawsuit, Garcia initially received a monthly flat rate of $4,000 to work with Pete through Roc Nation and Stallion Entertainment. He says after the trip to Ibiza, his pay structure was changed to a pay-per-task rate that required him to submit invoices for each assignment. He said the new invoicing system resulted in “significantly less” compensation – an amount that “did not accurately reflect the true time and effort” he spent working for Pete.
In an interview with NBC News, Garcia said he was “uncomfortable” during the alleged incident in the car in Spain. “I was kind of frozen, and I was shocked. At kind of just be the overall audacity to do this right, right beside me,” he told the outlet.
From Rolling Stone US
