*The wife of singer/songwriter Akon is taking a male Publix Super Markets employee to task, suing the grocery chain amid claims the worker sexually violated her.
AllHipHop cites court documents it obtained in reporting that the situation stems from an incident that took place in September 2022 at a Publix location in Roswell, Georgia. At the center of the situation is Jonathan Ross, a stock clerk with a disciplinary file.
When the incident occurred, Ross was lingering near the organic snacks, an area outside his assigned duties, watching Amirah Iman-Thiam, one of Akon’s nine wives.
The court documents reveal Ross slid behind Iman-Thiam as she scanned her groceries and muttered, “That dress got me rethinking my lunch break.”
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Before Iman-Thiam could react, Ross’ hands gripped her buttocks and vaginal area, AllHipHop noted, adding the violence lasted mere seconds. As police arrived on the scene, bodycam footage showed Iman-Thiam trembling
“He just… violated me,” she confessed within hours, her voice cracking.
Ross was ultimately convicted of sexual battery. The employee’s conviction comes amid the Publix store manager’s admission that Ross remained unsupervised near customers despite showing erratic behavior for months.
For Iman-Thiam, the trauma is beyond the physical. The aspiring entertainer claims nightmares forced her to cancel a 12-city European tour costing $287,000 in guaranteed fees.
In addition, collaborations with Grammy Award-winning producers have been torpedoed.
“My creativity’s gone,” Iman-Thiam, who now relies on Instacart deliveries and a $150/hour security escort for essential errands, told her therapist.
Expanding on the effect of what happened at Publix, court documents stated, “Ms. lman-Thiam’s professional and personal life has been severely impacted by Publix’s negligence. Ms. lman-Thiam is the wife of famed singer and producer, Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam (‘Akon’). She is a rising recording artist and rapper with Konvict Muzik. At the time of the accident, Ms. Iman-Thiam had just negotiated an international tour agreement with Universal Artist Features Worldwide and Quilox, LLC. She was contracted to perform a multi-city musical tour comprising of musical concerts within Africa and United Arab Emirates between November 1, 2022 to January 5, 2023. She was contracted to earn $4,000,000.00 for her performances.
“The tour agreement is attached to this letter and, like this letter, is strictly confidential. As a result of Publix’s negligence, Ms. lman-Thiam also suffered from serious emotional and physical trauma. Ms. Iman-Thiam and her husband are devout Muslims. Culturally, Muslim women are forbidden to receive physical, sexual contact from anyone who is not their spouse. This is a strict prohibition in the Islamic faith,” documents mentioned.
“In light of the sexual battery, Ms. Iman-Thiam was required to seek cleansing and therapy from an Imam (a priest) in Senegal (which is her husband’s home country). For approximately one (1) year, she was required to pray six (6) times a day and engage in cleansing and purification rituals until she was fully cleansed as prescribed in the Islamic faith. Consequently, Ms. Iman-Thiam’s tour had to be cancelled.”
In her complaint, Iman-Thiam alleges Publix’s negligence transformed its stores into hunting grounds, with Ross’s history of erratic behavior making the assault “as predictable as a Tuesday BOGO sale.”
“This wasn’t a rogue employee,” Iman-Thiam’s attorney stated. “This was a broken system weaponized against women.”
Reacting to the Iman-Thiam’s lawsuit, which was filed in Fulton County Superior Court, Publix filed a motion to dismiss the legal action, claiming Ross acted outside his employment. Iman-Thiam’s attorneys countered the employer, arguing that despite 19 similar incidents statewide since 2020, Publix had no sexual harassment protocols for frontline staff. The legal team further argues that Publix prioritized profit over background checks.
With depositions looming, Publix’s quarterly earnings report, which was released days after Ross’s conviction, noted a $4.2 million allocation for “customer incident resolutions.”
Iman-Thiam is seeking punitive damages for reputational harm and emotional distress.
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