The 'Eastside' singer is hit with Disability Discrimination and Retaliation lawsuit filed by a woman named Ashley Funch after she allegedly fired her for taking time off for an emergency medical procedure.
- Jun 10, 2022
AceShowbiz - Halsey has responded to Disability Discrimination and Retaliation lawsuit filed by their former nanny. Reacting to the legal docs, the "Without Me" hitmaker accused a woman named Ashley Funch of leaving her infant son Ender Ridley Aydin "unsupervised."
Addressing the matter, the "Eastside" singer's representative told TMZ in an article published on Thursday, June 9, "These allegations are baseless. This individual's employment was recently terminated in response to specific incidents in which Halsey's infant was left unsupervised in an unsafe location while under the nanny's care, and it was discovered the nanny was intoxicated while the child was in her care."
"Furthermore, at no time during this individual's term of employment with Halsey were any complaints even raised," the spokesperson continued alleging. "Consequently, while Halsey is both saddened and disappointed by this turn of events, they feel it is important to refute these allegations publicly, as they take ableism and ethical working conditions very seriously." The rep further pointed out, "Halsey wants to be absolutely clear that they remain a vocal advocate both against ableism and for ethical working conditions."
The woman, who is suing Halsey and their company, alleged that she was fired for taking time off for an emergency medical procedure. She explained in the legal docs that she was hired in 2021 as a "live-in personal attendant for her newborn child."
At the time, Ashley said she was paid by "Halsey Music" every two weeks based on an annual salary. The nanny added that the job included "caring for the child, preparing meals, cleaning, laundry, cleaning breast pump materials, organizing the nursery, and running errands as needed." She also claimed that during the weeks to follow she "worked around the clock" on consecutive days with "little to no day of rest."
In the filing, the nanny stated she started complaining about the singer's failure to pay overtime wages for the long hours. In response to the complaints, she was given an extra $5,000 for the hard work.
Fast forward to March 16, 2022, Ashley said she sent Halsey a text message saying she needed to take a leave of absence from work to "undergo a medical procedure" that would cause her to miss a few days. In the lawsuit, the nanny claimed "a few days later, without any warning or response to [the nanny], she was "terminated" by the singer.
Ashley believes the firing was in retaliation for complaining about the overtime wages and "violation of law" based on her disability and inability to work. "As a direct and proximate cause of the aforementioned violations, [the nanny] has suffered, and continues to suffer, substantial losses related to the use and enjoyment of such wages and lost interest in such wages," the lawsuit stated.
It added that the situation and firing were "deliberate, cold, callous, fraudulent, and intentional manner in order to injure and damage [the nanny] with a conscious disregard of her rights." An exact amount of damages was not listed in the documents, but the nanny filed a discrimination complaint with the California Department of Fair Employment & Housing.
