Birdman is in the clear for nearly $1 million in backed wages, for now.
It looks like Birdman may be off the hook: A Miami-Dade circuit judge ruled that Bryan Williams, aka Birdman, would not have to pay an ex-employee roughly $1 million in back wages. According to court documents, Birdman’s lawyer, Alan Soven, argued both Birdman and his label Cash Money Records weren’t properly served. “You can’t serve Bryan Williams by handing it to the secretary of the lawyer at Cash Money Records,” Soven said Tuesday after the hearing before Judge Reemberto Diaz.
So here is how the whole ordeal began, back in October we reported that Birdman’s former property manager Nicolas Jose Penzo filed a lawsuit against Birdman, Cash Money Records, and Pine View Management LLC. But because Birdman failed to appear in court, a default judgment was awarded to the plaintiff (Penzo) in the amount of $1,069,876 plus interest.
Crazy right? Especially knowing that Penzo’s initial complaint was only for $23,900. Penzo, who was employed by Birdman from 2015 until May 27, 2017, merely wanted to collect on wages he earned for painting, cleaning, and coordinating with contractors to fix things around the property. Penzo said Birdman promised to pay him $150.00 per day but never received his money.
After months of waiting for payment, Penzo then subpoenaed Citibank. The subpoena resulted in a startling revelation: Birdman had withdrawn all of his funds from Citibank.
This brings us to the present day, where according to Birdman’s attorney, the case will start over from the beginning in order to properly serve Birdman and Cash Money.
A sigh of relief for the co-founder of Cash Money Records, who currently is in-boiled in a number of on-going legal battles. Just this past November, we reported that a company called EMG Transfer Agent was suing the rapper for an estimated $20 million in damages following a bad loan deal.
We will keep you posted on the latest happenings in both cases.
