Kanye West doesn't let students at Donda Academy use the second floor because he's afraid of stairs, former staff allege

• Ye's Donda Academy didn't hold classes on the second floor, according to a newly filed lawsuit.
• That's because Ye was afraid of stairs, two former staff at the school allege.

Two former staff members of Ye's secretive Donda Academy allege in a new lawsuit that students were forced to stay on the first floor of the building because the rapper is afraid of the stairs.

"Classes could not take place on the second floor as Defendant West reportedly did not want children or staff to go upstairs since he was reportedly afraid of stairs," the former staffers, Cecilia Hailey and Chekarey Byers, alleged in the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday.

The two women, mother and daughter according to one of their lawyers, are suing Ye, Donda Academy, and three of its directors for seven labor code and discrimination violations, for unspecified damages.

The women also alleged that there were no chairs allowed in the school, and students had to sit on the floor on cushions, according to the plaintiffs. Teachers at the school had to stand or use a stool, the lawsuit says.

At lunchtime, students had to sit and eat their lunches on the floor as there were no tables for them, and they weren't given utensils to eat with, the women allege in the lawsuit.

Lawyers for Ye — formerly known as Kanye West — and a representative for Donda Academy did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment. When approached by an Insider reporter at Donda's Chatsworth campus on Thursday, a staff member declined to comment.

The women allege a host of bizarre rules Ye put in place at the academy: students were only allowed to eat school-provided sushi for lunch, teachers were not allowed to wear jewelry, and everyone at the school had to wear all black — but not Nike or Adidas — from head to toe, the former workers allege.

It also alleges a "lack of safety" at the school, including "multiple health and safety violations, and unlawful educational practices."

Upset at Donda

Donda Academy was under the public spotlight last fall when Ye made a series of racist and antisemitic comments.

The artist came under fire between October and November after he donned a "White Lives Matter" T-shirt, incorrectly insisted George Floyd died of a drug overdose, and made repeated antisemitic comments. He has since apologized for what he said about Floyd's death but doubled down on his antisemitic rhetoric.

On October 27, Donda officials announced the school would be closing, but days later an Insider reporter found students and parents coming and going from its Chatsworth location. Ye himself made an appearance at the school, which was discreetly located in a building marked "Jouer."

At the time, Ye's Donda Academy campus was believed to be located in exurban Ventura County, California, but administrators secretly moved the school in 2021 to a Los Angeles suburb, according to emails and state Department of Education documents obtained by Insider.

Hailey was hired at the school in November, and Byers was hired in January. Their lawyers say both were fired in March without being given a reason. They say their concerns about the school were never addressed and they were called "aggressive" for voicing them. They also claim their wages were illegaly withheld.