Brandy Battling Second Lawsuit in the Same Year
Actor and singer Brandy is up against two legal battles right now. The Moesha star was already fighting a lawsuit claiming she stole a designer ring. Now, she’s being accused of firing a long-term employee due to discrimination. It’s not the first string of legal battles Brandy has had to deal with.
Brandy sued for age discrimination by former housekeeper
The Thea alum is being accused of firing her longtime housekeeper for allegedly being too old. And according to the employee, she has not been properly compensated for her work and as a result, she’s filed a lawsuit for discrimination. TMZ reports that the woman, who says she is over 60-years-old, was let go from the team in Feb. 2022. Per her legal documents, Brandy is accusing of firing the woman because she no longer wanted an “older” housekeeper.
The woman alleges that she was not paid for her final two days of work. She is asking for back pay and much more. The housekeeper claims she earned $125 a day at Brandy’s Calabasas home for the past 20 years. In her suit, she claims that she did not get her legally required breaks during shifts. She wants more than $250,000 in damages. Regarding the housekeeper’s lawsuit, Brandy’s rep says they disagree and will confer with her legal team on how to move forward.
She was sued at the top of the year for stolen jewelry
Just two months before the discrimination lawsuit, the Cinderella star and her stylist, Ashley Sean Thomas, were sued in Jan. 2022 by a fashion designer and store owner who alleged Brandy failed to return a ring she wore to the American Music Awards. The ring is said to be worth $45,000.
The ring in question is 18-karat rose gold, with a sapphire crystal dome and black volcanic stone. Designers are requesting the ring cost plus other damages and alleging suffering of financial losses and emotional trauma.
Brandy and her team told TMZ it’s a lie. “Brandy never saw the ring and has no knowledge of it ever being in her presence. It was never a part of her look for the event.” There are currently no photos of Brandy wearing the ring in question from her American Music Awards appearance.
The singer was also served a wrongful death lawsuit
Aside from these two legal issues, Brandy suffered a more devastating lawsuit previously stemming from a 2007 car crash that left a mother of two dead. The family of the woman, Awatef Aboudiha, filed a wrongful death lawsuit.
Aboudiha died from blunt-force injuries sustained in the crash and her two sons, ages 10 and 14 at the time of the crash, also sustained injuries. The wrongful death suit alleged Brandy drove a Land Rover “recklessly” before it struck Aboudihaj’s Honda, which slid into the center divider where another car struck Aboudihaj, resulting in the fatal injuries.
Brandy eventually settled the lawsuit, and later admitted that she felt she was unfairly blamed due to her celebrity. She settled despite being found not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by some of the top experts in the country, we formerly reported.
Brandy later told Oprah Winfrey in an interview that the incident left a lifelong impact. “Being involved in something that tragic…I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I don’t think that’s something I could ever get over or ever truly understand, but that was one of the worst times in my life.”
