Halsey Responds to Lawsuit Launched by Fired Nanny

Halsey’s former nanny is suing the singer over her firing, but the Grammy-nominated artist says it was in response to the nanny’s potential harm to Halsey’s child. Ashley Funches claims she was fired for asking for overtime compensation and taking time off for a medical emergency and is suing the performer for disability discrimination and retaliation.

TMZ reports that a representative for Halsey told the outlet on June 9, “These allegations are baseless. This individual’s employment was recently terminated in response to specific incidents in which Halsey’s infant was left unsupervised in an unsafe location while under the nanny’s care, and it was discovered the nanny was intoxicated while the child was in her care.”

The statement continued, “Furthermore, at no time during this individual’s term of employment with Halsey were any complaints even raised. Consequently, while Halsey is both saddened and disappointed by this turn of events, they feel it is important to refute these allegations publicly, as they take ableism and ethical working conditions very seriously.”

The Blast reports that Funches claimed in legal documents that Halsey violated the law by terminating her employment after taking time off following an emergency medical procedure. In July 2021, Halsey and their boyfriend, Alev Aydin welcomed their son Ender. She was hired last year by Halsey and their company Halsey Music to be a ‘live-in personal attendant for the child’ once it was born.

Her job duties included preparing meals for the child, cleaning laundry, cleaning breast pump materials, organizing the nursery, and running errands when necessary. She was also paid every other week and received an annual salary. Funches claimed that she had “worked around the clock” for several days with “little or no…rest” throughout her work for the “Closer” artist.

When the nanny complained to her employers about the lack of overtime compensation, she was paid $5,000 without being told why or for what reason she would receive it. Halsey then fired her a few days after she texted to say she had to miss multiple days because of a medical procedure.

According to Funches, she believed the termination was motivated by retaliation as a result of her previous mentions of overtime compensation. She also argued that Halsey violated labor laws by terminating her following her medical procedure. Funches’ attorneys say Halsey fired her nanny in a “deliberate, cold, callous, fraudulent, and intentional manner in order to injure and damage [Funches] with a conscious disregard of her rights.”

Additionally, they stated that “as a direct and proximate cause of the aforementioned violations, [Funches] has suffered, and continues to suffer, substantial losses related to the use and enjoyment of such wages and lost interest in such wages.” Funches has also filed a complaint with the California Department of Fair Employment & Housing alleging that he was discriminated against.