LOS ANGELES — A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion says he was forced to watch the hip-hop star have sex with another woman and then was raped after enduring a hostile work environment Unfair dismissal.
The singer’s lawyers say the lawsuit is an attempt to obtain money and Meghan will fight it in court.
Photographer Emilio Garcia said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court that he was trapped in an SUV after spending the night in Ibiza, Spain, in June 2022 when Meghan began having sex with a woman next to him sexual relations.
Garcia claims he couldn’t get out of the moving car and even if he could, he would be in the middle of nowhere in a foreign country. Garcia “felt embarrassed, ashamed and offended throughout the entire ordeal,” the lawsuit states.
“I felt uncomfortable. I was kind of stunned, I was shocked. It was just the overall courage to be bold enough to do it around me,” Garcia told NBC News. “
The next day, Megan, whose legal name is Megan Pitt, told Garcia not to discuss what he saw and berated and humiliated him, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit alleges that the “harassment was severe or pervasive” and created a “hostile, abusive work environment” that made Garcia’s “working conditions intolerable,” NBC News reported.
Garcia later complained that she was overworked and underpaid in a hostile work environment, compounded by Megan’s possessive and abusive behavior. The next day, he was fired after working for her for four years, the lawsuit said. He has filed a job discrimination complaint with the California Civil Rights Department, the Associated Press reported.
Garcia began working as the hip-hop star’s personal photographer in 2018 and worked for her full-time from 2019 to June 2023, the lawsuit states.
He is seeking monetary damages to be determined at trial. According to NBC, he is seeking a compensation in excess of six figures.
He claims he suffered emotionally and physically as a result of his treatment at work, being fired and having to witness the scene in his SUV.
In addition to the singer, other defendants include her companies Megan Thee Stallion Entertainment and Hot Girl Touring; and her label Roc Nation.
Megan Thee Stallion’s attorney dismissed the lawsuit, calling it an employee’s attempt to obtain money.
“This is a monetary employment claim – no sexual harassment claim was made, and there were allegations of indecency in an attempt to embarrass her. We will handle the matter in court,” attorney Alex Spiro said in a statement, NBC said .
Roc Nation did not respond to requests for comment from NBC and The Associated Press.
Megan, 29, is one of hip-hop’s biggest stars, winning the 2021 Grammy Award for Best New Artist. .