Handyman's attorney asks jury to award $1.7 million from Kanye West over workplace violations

LOS ANGELES (CN) — Attorneys for Kanye West and a self-described handyman suing the rapper and entrepreneur over wrongful termination, wage violations and personal injury delivered their closing arguments to cap a 10-day civil trial on Monday.

Plaintiff’s attorney Ron Zambrano asked the jury to award at least $1.7 million to his client, Tony Saxon, a musician, record dealer and sometimes construction worker — money to be paid by West, who has legally changed his name to Ye.

“It’s a lot of money,” Zambrano admitted, “but to him, it’s not.”

Ye’s attorney, Andrew Cherkasky, used his closing argument to lambast Saxon, calling him a liar, a malingerer, a “fool,” a “usurer” and a “professional victim” who “tried to defraud one of the world’s biggest superstars.”

“This man does not want to get a job,” Cherkasky said, referring to the plaintiff. “He wants somebody to give him everything to do nothing.”

His client, meanwhile, was an “artistic genius,” “not on the same planet” as Saxon — though he was also “just a guy who bought a house and is still getting dragged through the mud.”

The case revolves around a $57 million beachfront house in Malibu, the “Ando house” — its price owed less to its size or location but rather to its world-renowned architect, Tadao Ando. Ye considers himself something of an architecture enthusiast and had his own ideas for how the house should look. While Ando’s design was minimalist, Ye wanted it even more minimalist, an “off-the-grid” bunker of sorts, with its own source of electricity and water, independent from public resources.

Saxon says he was hired to bring Ye’s vision into reality, to supervise the removal of many of the home’s nonessential features, including the jacuzzi and chimneys. He was also the project’s de facto security guard, he says, going so far as to sleep on the concrete floor of the house in a sleeping bag.

In his closing, Cherkasky said Saxon was “lucky” to have had the opportunity to sleep on the floor of a house in Malibu, so close to the Pacific Ocean.

“How is he the victim?” Cherkasky asked, incredulous. “He had a great time. The time of his life.”

In the six or seven weeks working on the Ando house, Saxon appears to have formed a bond with Ye. The famous artist invited the anonymous worker to stay, for a night, at lavish Nobu hotel in Malibu and even drew him a bath.

“Like the disciples, Ye bathed him,” Cherkasky said, not for the first time speaking about his client in reverential tones.

Saxon and Ye made for an unlikely duo. Though they sat at opposite ends of the economic spectrum, both have changed their names, and both have been diagnosed as having bipolar disorder, according to their attorneys. But their friendship was short-lived. When Ye said it was time to cut the power to his new would-be beachfront bunker, Saxon says, he balked. That would mean running a generator to power the tools and lights. That would mean a loud noise, which would disturb the neighbors — and the work was being done without permits. Or it would mean putting the generator inside, which would cause a health hazard. Neither option sounded appealing.

“If you don’t do what I asked you to do, you’re a Clinton. You’re a Kardashian, you’re an enemy," Ye told Saxon, he claims in the civil complaint. Not long after, Saxon was fired.

The 10-day trial was dominated by the testimony and harsh cross-examination of Saxon. But the star witness was, of course, Ye himself, who testified for about three hours, struggling to keep his eyes open and saying little beyond “Yes,” “No,” “I’m not sure” and “I don’t recall.” Cherkasky, in his closing argument, praised his client for showing up “on time.”

“He wasn’t sleeping,” Cherkasky insisted. “He was bored.” He added: “Ye doesn’t remember anything about [Saxon]. Why would he?”

His wife, Bianca Censori, also spent a day on the witness stand. The defense team called only one witness: Milo Yiannopoulos, the controversial right-wing political commentator who works as Ye’s spokesperson and as a representative for Ye’s company, Yeezy. His time on the stand was brief.

To reach their decision, the jury will first answer the most crucial question of the case: whether or not Saxon was an employee of Ye’s. For that question, the burden of proof is on the defendants. Cherkasky has argued that Saxon was an independent contractor, as most contractors or construction workers are hired to be — although Ye, when asked during his deposition if he was Saxon’s employer, replied, “I don’t dispute that.” And Zambrano argued that under California law, Saxon qualified as an employee, in part because Ye exercised control over Saxon’s work.

If the jury finds that Saxon wasn’t an employee, Ye will have won the case. But if the jury agrees with Saxon, it’ll next have to wend its way through a byzantine form, answering more than 30 yes and no questions, including whether Ye fired Saxon for his refusal to put a generator indoors.

“My client didn’t want to work while breathing in carbon dioxide,” Zambrano told the jury. “And he was fired. You cannot be fired for following the law.” He added: “Mr. Ye knew what he was doing. He may not remember, but he knew what he was doing.”

The jury will also decide whether Saxon was injured while working for Ye, as Saxon says he was. Cherkasky mocked this claim as well, playing a video of Saxon singing and undulating onstage in 2022, months after he was fired by Ye.

“Oh yeah,” the attorney said sarcastically. “That guy’s got a broken neck.” Cherkasky added: “He’s just fine.”

Zambrano asked the jury to award his client $530,000 for past and future economic damages, covering unpaid wages, overtime and a penalty for wrongful termination. He also asked for another $1.1 million for pain and suffering from his injury. Cherkasky accused Zambrano of “literally making up numbers.”

Should the jury find in favor of Saxon, it will also have the option of awarding punitive damages if it finds that Ye acted with a willful and knowing disregard for the safety of others. That will be taken care of during a second phase of the trial. Deliberation is set to begin Tuesday morning.

This is the first of roughly a dozen lawsuits filed against Ye by former employees, many of whom worked at Ye’s short-lived private school, Donda Academy, and some of whom are also represented by Zambrano and the firm he works for, West Coast Trial Lawyers.

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