Lizzo is a nightmare to work for behind the scenes -- at least according to 3 of her former backup dancers, who are suing for what they claim were awful conditions on the job.
The singer is named as a defendant in a new lawsuit that was filed by the 3 women who say they danced for Lizzo and her touring company between 2021 and spring 2023 -- when they claim they were either unjustly fired or forced to resign due to unbearable circumstances.
In the docs, obtained by TMZ ... Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez say they made it into Lizzo's orbit through her Amazon reality show 'Watch Out for the Big Grrrls' -- and, after making the cut, they allege they were subjected to a number of CA workplace violations ... several of which amounted to sexual harassment, false imprisonment and interference with prospective economic advantage ... among other claims.
The accusations are being hurled in a few different directions -- including some aimed at members of Lizzo's management team, but as it pertains to her specifically ... she's being accused by these women of basically holding them hostage in a number of situations.
Specifically, the women cite 2 different instances while on the road with her in Europe earlier this year. They claim she subjected them to attend nude shows in Amsterdam and Paris, to the clear discomfort of her employees.
During the Amsterdam outing, they claim Lizzo goaded her dancers to touch the nude performers onstage and interact with them in very vulgar and explicit ways. The dancers claim they felt they had to do this in order to maintain their jobs.
Another claim against Lizzo ... her alleged badgering of these women over alleged poor performance and accusations of drinking on the job, which they say led to her constantly threatening them and their positions on her squad. The dancers even claim Lizzo made them reaudition for their spots in a multi-hour rehearsal that sounds brutal -- one dancer claims she was forced to pee her pants right there onstage out of fear of taking a break.
One dancer also claims Lizzo was privy to an eating disorder she had, and exploited that when she felt this dancer wasn't up to snuff ... allegedly forcing her to talk about it.
On top of all that, these dancers claim they were constantly being stiffed on the money front -- as well as having to constantly turn down other dancing gigs during pauses on tour. They're suing for major damages.
We covered the story on the latest episode of The TMZ Podcast, available on all podcast platforms.