Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
In 2018, photographer and videographer Emilio Garcia began working for Megan Thee Stallion, traveling with her entourage and documenting her concerts, appearances and other events around the world.
At first, Megan paid Garcia a monthly rate and directly supervised his work, including his edits, while expecting him to respond to requests at all hours. After Roc Nation became involved in managing parts of Megan’s business, Roc Nation representatives also began scheduling Garcia for events, negotiating his compensation and communicating with him about his work.
Garcia says the relationship began deteriorating in 2022, when he started experiencing problems with his pay and raised those concerns with Roc Nation.
He also alleges that Megan subjected him to abusive and sexually inappropriate conduct, including requiring him to accompany her entourage to strip clubs and, during a trip to Ibiza, exposing him to sexual activity involving her and others.
In June 2023, after Garcia and Megan had a falling-out, both Megan and Roc Nation stopped using him for future work. Garcia subsequently sued Megan, her corporate entities and Roc Nation, alleging that he had been improperly classified as an independent contractor, denied wages and overtime, subjected to discriminatory and hostile treatment, and retaliated against after complaining about his pay.
The lawsuit has now survived a major hurdle. A federal judge ruled that there is enough evidence for a jury to decide whether Megan, her companies and Roc Nation effectively operated as Garcia’s employers, despite the parties’ characterization of him as an independent contractor.
The judge found factual disputes over who controlled Garcia’s schedule, compensation, assignments and termination, meaning his claims for unpaid wages and overtime can proceed.
His retaliation claims based on complaints about his pay also survived because there is evidence from which a jury could conclude that his complaints played a role in the decision to stop employing him.
The judge did, however, throw out Garcia’s California sexual-harassment and hostile-work-environment claims, finding that he had not produced evidence showing that the conduct he described occurred because of his sexual orientation.
His New York discrimination claims survived, though, as did his New York wage claims.
In other words, Megan and Roc Nation did not get the case dismissed: the core fight over Garcia’s pay, employment status, alleged retaliation and certain discrimination claims is still alive and could ultimately be decided by a jury.
In 2018, photographer and videographer Emilio Garcia began working for Megan Thee Stallion, traveling with her entourage and documenting her concerts, appearances and other events around the world.
At first, Megan paid Garcia a monthly rate and directly supervised his work, including his edits, while expecting him to respond to requests at all hours. After Roc Nation became involved in managing parts of Megan’s business, Roc Nation representatives also began scheduling Garcia for events, negotiating his compensation and communicating with him about his work.
Garcia says the relationship began deteriorating in 2022, when he started experiencing problems with his pay and raised those concerns with Roc Nation.
He also alleges that Megan subjected him to abusive and sexually inappropriate conduct, including requiring him to accompany her entourage to strip clubs and, during a trip to Ibiza, exposing him to sexual activity involving her and others.
In June 2023, after Garcia and Megan had a falling-out, both Megan and Roc Nation stopped using him for future work. Garcia subsequently sued Megan, her corporate entities and Roc Nation, alleging that he had been improperly classified as an independent contractor, denied wages and overtime, subjected to discriminatory and hostile treatment, and retaliated against after complaining about his pay.
The lawsuit has now survived a major hurdle. A federal judge ruled that there is enough evidence for a jury to decide whether Megan, her companies and Roc Nation effectively operated as Garcia’s employers, despite the parties’ characterization of him as an independent contractor.
The judge found factual disputes over who controlled Garcia’s schedule, compensation, assignments and termination, meaning his claims for unpaid wages and overtime can proceed.
His retaliation claims based on complaints about his pay also survived because there is evidence from which a jury could conclude that his complaints played a role in the decision to stop employing him.
The judge did, however, throw out Garcia’s California sexual-harassment and hostile-work-environment claims, finding that he had not produced evidence showing that the conduct he described occurred because of his sexual orientation.
His New York discrimination claims survived, though, as did his New York wage claims.
In other words, Megan and Roc Nation did not get the case dismissed: the core fight over Garcia’s pay, employment status, alleged retaliation and certain discrimination claims is still alive and could ultimately be decided by a jury.
