Halsey is telling their side of the story in response to a lawsuit from their son Ender's former nanny.
In the documents, filed in a Los Angeles court June 9 and obtained by E! News, Ashley Funches alleges that in 2021, she began working as the singer's live-in personal attendant for the singer's then-newborn, who is now 11 months old. The former nanny says she was "misclassified" as an employee "exempt from overtime" and that in March, Halsey allegedly terminated her after she informed the singer that she may need to undergo a medical procedure that would require her to take a leave of absence.
Funches alleges in her suit that that Halsey "illegally and wrongfully terminated her in retaliation for complaining about" the singer's "illegal and unlawful practice of failing to pay her overtime wages and on the basis of her disability and/or perceived disability."
In a statement to E! News, Halsey's rep called the allegations in the lawsuit "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," Halsey's lawyer said, alleging that the nanny was also "intoxicated while the child was in her care."
E! News has reached out to Funches' attorney for comment but has not heard back.
Elsewhere in her lawsuit, Halsey's former nanny alleges that she "regularly worked over nine hours a day and 45 hours a week without overtime compensation," performing duties such as caring for the child, preparing meals, cleaning—including breast pump materials, doing laundry, organizing the nursery and running errands.
"Throughout the majority of her employment, [Funches] worked around the clock on consecutive days with little to no day of rest," her lawsuit states. "In or around October 2021, [Funches] began complaining to [Halsey] about her long working hours and [Halsey's] failure to pay her overtime wages."
Funches said in her suit that Halsey paid her a lump sum of $5,000 the following December for her accumulated overtime but that "despite multiple requests," offered no explanation as to how that sum compensated the nanny for all of her overtime hours to date, and also allegedly continued to deny her such wages even though she "continued to work significant amounts of overtime hours caring for Halsey's child."
In response to those claims, Halsey's rep tells E! News in their statement, "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. Halsey wants to be absolutely clear that they remain a vocal advocate both against ableism and for ethical working conditions."
In her lawsuit, Funches included a copy of a discrimination complaint she had filed against Halsey with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing in April. In it, she stated that in March, she experienced retaliation because she requested or used a disability-related accommodation, and as a result, was terminated.
Funches also stated in her suit that despite her disabilities or perceived disabilities, she was able to perform the essential functions of her job with or without reasonable accommodations. But, the lawsuit added, "[Halsey] also knew or should have known, of the need to accommodate [Funches'] disabilities or perceived disabilities."
"Instead of engaging in the interactive process," the documents state, "[Halsey] took adverse action against [Funches], including by failing and refusing to accommodate her disabilities or perceived disabilities and by terminating her employment instead of providing an extended leave as an accommodation."
She also alleges that Halsey failed to reimburse her for her "necessary business expenses," noting she was "required" to use her own personal device to "respond to work-related phone calls, e-mails and/or text messages."
Funches is seeking a jury trial and compensatory damages, including lost wages and earnings, plus punitive damages, reasonable attorney fees and cost of suit.