October 7, 1999 – At the height of her success following the release of her debut album “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,” four musicians who claimed to have co-written and produced on album filed charges against Lauryn claiming that they were not properly credited for their work on the project. The musical collective New Ark consisting of Vada Nobles, Rasheem Pugh, Tejumold and Johari Newton, filed the fifty page lawsuit against Lauryn and her then management team and label Ruffhouse, a Columbia Records off shoot. The group claimed to have been primary writers on two of the albums cuts and major contributors on several others, though the album credits all of the writing and production to Lauryn herself. Lauryn responded to the lawsuit by claiming that New Ark took advantage of her success. In the lawsuit, the group of musicians were requesting partial writing credits and monetary reimbursement for unpaid royalties. The suit was eventually settled out of court in February 2001 for a reported $5 million.