Kanye West, now known as Ye, has filed a new motion in a Los Angeles Superior Court, asking for a reversal of the jury's decision in his Malibu mansion trial, which found the rapper liable to pay over $100,000 in damages. The 48-year-old Grammy winner's motion, obtained by PEOPLE on March 13, argues that the jury's decision is unjust and lacks substantial evidence to support the awarded damages.
The trial, which lasted for two weeks, centered around Tony Saxon's allegations that he was not paid, was seriously injured, and was wrongfully terminated while working on West's $57 million Malibu home. Initially seeking $1.7 million in compensatory damages, Saxon was ultimately awarded $140,000 by the jury, with no additional punitive damages. This award was based solely on his injury claims, as confirmed by both parties to PEOPLE.
During the closing arguments, Saxon's attorneys argued that he was unjustly fired by West after allegedly injuring his back and neck on the job. However, West's newest motion counters that Saxon presented no evidence of physical harm and is not eligible for damages as an unlicensed contractor.
The motion states, "This case went to the jury without a single admissible medical bill, without any medical records establishing injury, and without expert testimony grounded in any reliable causation or valuation methodology. Yet the jury nevertheless awarded Plaintiff $100,000 in economic damages—$50,000 for past economic loss and $50,000 for future economic loss. That award cannot stand."
Despite the "absence of substantial evidence" supporting Saxon's claimed damages, the motion further argues that he would be unable to collect the damages because "no legally permissible theory supports it." The motion continues, "If the award represents medical damages, it lacks the substantial evidentiary support required under California law. If it represents compensation for the construction work [Saxon] performed, it is barred by the contractor licensing statutes."
Ronald Zambrano, Saxon's attorney, tells PEOPLE that they have reviewed the motion and described it as an "attempt to relitigate an issue that was already denied by the Court prior to trial." He adds, "We have a strong confidence that the judge will make the same decisions and leave the jury's verdict as is."
In Saxon's initial civil complaint, filed in September 2023, he claimed to have been hired as a project manager for the property in September 2021. He was allegedly hired to act as "full-time security" and a "live-in caretaker" for the home at a pay rate of $20,000 a week. Saxon further claimed that he only ever received one of those $20,000 payments and was forced to sleep in "makeshift conditions" on the property, "finding empty spaces on the ground and using his coat as a makeshift bedding," per the civil complaint. West allegedly ignored these complaints.
