Randall Emmett continues to find himself in legal trouble.
According to The Los Angeles Times, the 51-year-old filmmaker’s former assistant filed a lawsuit with the Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday for emotional stress damages, punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees. The suit also names Randall’s business partner George Furla and their production company Emmett/Furla Oasis.
Per the docs, Martin G’Blae worked at the company for most of 2020, serving as a production assistant on Randall’s movie Midnight in the Switchgrass. He claims racial discrimination played a role in his termination from the business. He also accused the director of using the N-word and creating a hostile work environment that often violated his religious beliefs.
Related: Randall Emmett Shares Cryptic Post Amid Ambyr Childers Allegations
In the filing, the 29-year-old alleged the director broke the law 24 times, including asking him to retrieve “a brick of cocaine” from a hotel room while working on the action film in Puerto Rico — an incident he previously recounted to the LA Times back in June. The lawsuit states:
“Emmett had forgotten the code to the safe, so they had the hotel receptionist and a security guard open it. Inside, they found what appeared to be brick of cocaine. The other assistant quickly grabbed it, and they drove back to Emmett, fearing being pulled over and found with a brick of cocaine. When they gave it to Emmett, G’Blae told him forcefully to never put him in an unsafe and unlawful situation like that again.”
Martin then claims Randall had him involved in an “insurance fraud scam,” in which the producer allegedly asked him to claim insurance for his missing Rolls Royce when it was not actually stolen. The ex-assistant alleges he also was subjected to religious discrimination due to him being Muslim — and faced disability discrimination since he dealt with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. He said he was often made “uncomfortable” when being forced to deal out cards in poker games and run gambling-related errands despite Randall knowing it’s against his religion:
“Emmett still requested G’Blae to run poker-related errands for him approximately six more times, knowing it would make him uncomfortable and violate his religious beliefs.”
WTF?! In other instances, Martin says he would end up “paying Emmett’s prostitutes and drug dealers.” On top of all that, he even claims Randall would leave expensive items like luxury watches around to “trap” his employee and see if Martin would steal them. Martin – who apparently was the only Black employee at the company – was demanded to “turn out his pockets to check if he had stolen anything,” per the lawsuit.
But wait, there’s more! In August 2020, Randall allegedly became so enraged after reading the book Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter by his former business partner and co-producer for the series Power, 50 Cent – with whom he has an ongoing feud. The complaint notes Lala Kent’s ex-fiancé “got mad at 50 Cent and G’Blae,” adding:
“He called 50 Cent, ‘this f***king n*****,’ and then said to G’Blae, ‘All you guys are alike. All you guys do is hustle people.’ He then threw the book at G’Blae.”
In another incident, when watching Cardi B on television one time, Randall allegedly called the rapper a “‘ratchet bitch” and asked Martin to “‘translate’ for him” since he had a tough time understanding what she was saying. The lawsuit then mentioned he also had trouble understanding Quavo and asked Martin:
“Martin, if I go out with Quavo, would anyone know who he is? Or is it just like a culture thing?”
ICK!
Martin, who was paid $1,500 every two weeks for being on call 12 hours a day, further claims he’d have to pay for Randall’s personal expenses, including food and stays, and has “only been partially reimbursed.” But Randall’s attorney, Suann MacIsaac, told the LA Times that Martin has been “attempting to extort thousands of dollars from Mr. Emmett for months,” adding:
“Although he claims he is owed for past expenses, Mr. G’Blae’s story perpetually changes and he has refused to back up any of the supposed unpaid expenses.”
She also issued a statement to multiple outlets on Wednesday, calling all of the allegations against Randall “beyond fictitious”:
“The allegations being made are beyond fictitious. Mr. G’Blae is a disgruntled former employee who was fired for cause. During the last year he has tried to get thousands of dollars from Mr. Emmett for supposed unpaid expenses that he cannot substantiate. Mr. G’Blae will most definitely be held accountable for his actions in a courtroom.”
Meanwhile, Martin said in a statement that he hopes this lawsuit will open the door to more discussions about toxic workplace environments:
“By bringing to light the illegal pay scheme, discrimination, harassment, and retaliation that I suffered during my employment with Randall Emmett and his companies, I’m glad to open the floor for these discussions to take place. I hope, through this, a message is made that there are just some things you cannot remain silent about — illegal practices, abuse, and your rights within the workplace are just a few of many.”
Things are not looking good for Randall — especially since this latest legal filing comes shortly after ex-wife Ambyr Childers accused him of abuse and filed for an emergency domestic violence restraining order. Yeah… not looking good at all!!!
We’ll have to keep an eye out on what happens next with this lawsuit. Reactions to the accusations against Randall? Let us know in the comments below.
[Image via WENN]
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