Destiny's Child Sued By Two Ousted Members

Former Destiny's Child members LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson have filed a breach of partnership lawsuit against all current members of the hit R&B act and their manager Matthew Knowles.

Alleging that the two former members were wrongfully kicked out of the Houston-based group last February, the suit seeks unspecified actual and punitive damages, according to published reports. The suit was filed in district court in Harris County, Texas.

The suit also accuses founding members Beyoncé Knowles and Kelly Rowland, replacement members Farrah Franklin and Michelle Williams, and manager Matthew Knowles of conspiring to keep the former members from performing at the Grammy Awards and Soul Train Awards. Manager Matthew Knowles is the father of Beyoncé and legal guardian of Rowland.

A Dallas attorney who is representing Luckett and Roberson said that the former members have earned less than $100,000 from the group, but have been unable to determine what they should have been paid because they have not had access to the group's financial records, according to the Houston Chronicle.

The lawyer also alleged that the group's contract, drawn up by manager Knowles, allowed him to take 20 percent from the act's gross revenue, rather than from the net revenue. The latter would be more typical in a contract between an act and its manager.

The former members allege that attempts to drive them out of the group began after they sent letters in December 1999 to Knowles, telling him that the contract they had signed as minors could be terminated because they had reached age 18. According to the Hoston Chronicle, they still wanted to remain in the group.

The group has issued a new song, "Perfect Man," on the soundtrack to "Romeo Must Die" (Blackground/Virgin). The group's second album, the triple-platinum "The Writing's On The Wall" (Columbia), is currently #7 on the Billboard 200, jumping back into the top 10 for the first time in 31 weeks.