RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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A federal judge says Megan Thee Stallion and Roc Nation must face trial in a lawsuit filed by a former cameraman who says he was forced to watch the rapper have sex in a car during a European tour.
In a ruling Friday (Aug. 7), Judge Gregory H. Woods refused to dismiss several accusations from videographer Emilio Garcia, who filed a bombshell lawsuit in 2024 containing salacious accusations against the rapper.
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The decision means that Megan and Roc must face a jury trial over some of his claims, including Garcia’s accusation that they failed to pay proper wages, discriminated against him under New York law and retaliated when he complained about his pay.
A rep for Megan and Roc Nation did not immediately return a request for comment. Garcia’s attorney, Ron Zambrano , thanked the judge and said his client was “looking forward to having his day in court.”
In a May 2024 lawsuit, Garcia accused Megan and Roc Nation of subjecting him to a hostile work environment due to the alleged car-sex incident, which he says took place while on tour in Spain in 2022. He claimed the incident left him “embarrassed, mortified and offended,” and that Megan and Roc Nation later retaliated against him by reducing his work and eventually terminating him.
Megan’s attorneys have strongly denied any wrongdoing, calling the accusations “false and fabricated.” They said Garcia had taken “run of the mill” complaints about his wages and added “sensationalist false allegations of sex, debauchery, and workplace harassment for the sole purpose of creating a media firestorm.”
“Plaintiff is 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 while trying to tear down the successful career of Megan Thee Stallion,” wrote the star’s attorney, Alex Spiro .
But after more than two years of litigation, the case is headed to trial following Friday’s ruling. The judge did dismiss certain claims, including that the star or Roc had retaliated against him for complaining about the car-sex incident. But the judge said he had done enough that a jury might side with him on his discrimination claims, his wage accusations and his claims of retaliation tied to the wage dispute.
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