Rohan Marley, the son of Bob Marley, says the lawsuit brought by the former CEO of his company, Lion Order is frivolous and calculated to exploit his family name.
The woman, Chloe Villano, filed a lawsuit this week against Marley and Shashamane Group for Quid Pro Quo Harassment, hostile work environment, and wrongful termination.
Her lawsuit hinted that she had an affair with Marley while working for his marijuana company, which she claims to have helped build up, but their relationship soured over his demands that she not see other men. This led to her being harassed based on her gender and having to deal with hostility from Marley and the persons under his employ.
Rohan Marley contacted Urban Islandz, saying Villano was attempting to take advantage of him.
“This lawsuit is without merit and I intend to vigorously defend myself in court. I will not let any person take advantage of me and exploit my family’s name,” he said.
Villano is suing the businessman and former partner of Lauren Hill, with whom he shares five (5) children.
The woman is asking the court to award her $6.25 million for damages which she says are profits owed to her for the work she did to build up Marley’s company into a viable business.
In her lawsuit, among the things Villano claims are an admission of verbal abuse by Marley, who said to her, “I can speak to you this way because I am f**king you,” and when she asked him to speak to fellow employees, he demanded she not sleep with other men because it would mess up her employment status at Lion Order.
The woman claims she was unlawfully terminated in 2022. However, Marley denied wrongdoing and said the facts, as outlined by Villano, are contrary to evidence he has and will use in court.
“The allegation that Chloe Villano was terminated for any illegal reason could not be further from the truth. We are confident Ms. Villano’s claims will be dismissed out of California and, most importantly, will be dismissed on the merits due to of the wealth of evidence we possess demonstrating Ms. Villano’s desire to continue working with me months after she voluntarily resigned in writing as our Company’s CEO,” a statement to Urban Islandz from Marley read.
