A jury in Los Angeles has ordered the United States (US) rapper Kanye West, also known as Ye, to pay $140,000 (£104,415) to a former handyman following a dispute over renovation work at his Malibu home.
The verdict was returned at the Los Angeles Superior Court after Tony Saxon accused the artist of failing to pay agreed wages and dismissing him unfairly during refurbishment works at the beachside property.
Saxon had claimed damages of $1.7m (£1.27m), telling jurors that West agreed to pay him $20,000 a week but made only limited payments during the six weeks he worked at the house, making the jury to award a smaller sum, alongside legal and court costs.
Evidence heard during the 10-day trial included competing accounts of the scope and quality of the work.
READ ALSO: Omah Lay Reveals He Went Through Breakup During Grammys
Saxon alleged he received just one weekly payment of $20,000, as well as a separate $100,000 for construction expenses, while West’s legal team said bank records showed total payments of $240,000.
West denied many of Saxon’s claims, saying he could not recall several of the incidents described.
His lawyers argued that Saxon was an unlicensed contractor who caused damage to the property, which was designed by Japanese architect Tadao Ando.
The Malibu house, purchased by West in 2021 for $57m (£40.3m), was later stripped out and sold at a loss in 2023.
It is said that the case is the first of more than a dozen lawsuits filed by former employees against the rapper to be decided at trial.