Jay-Z Hit with Two Lawsuits

Jay-Z may have to double up on legal fees now that he’s been hit with two lawsuits. Allhiphop.com reports that Jay-Z and his former partner Damon Dash were hit with a $15 million lawsuit by a Philadelphia man who claims the duo stole his idea and used it as the basis for their 2002 film, State Property.

In his lawsuit which was filed in Manhattan Federal Court, Antonne Jones, alleges that he met with the two men and discussed a concept for a film based on his novel, The Family : A Philadelphia Mob Story, which focuses on four men seeking money, power, and fame. He allegedly offered the rights to Jay-Z and Dash for $500,000 and received a counteroffer for $50,000. After he rejected the counteroffer, he never heard from the men again.

The film’s distributor, Lionsgate, was also named as a defendant in the case.

Jay-Z was also hit with a lawsuit by a former employee of his 40/40 sports bar in New York City. The New York Post reports that former waitress Celese Williams alleges that 40/40 refuses to pay employees the legally required amounts for work performed. According to Williams, 40/40 kept a cut of workers’tips and didn’t pay the legal minimum wage rate for working or for overtime.

According to 40/40, Williams only worked there for four days in December 2005 and the allegations are false.