A lawsuit filed earlier this month against Spotify accuses the music company of partaking in “systemic gender discrimination, defamation, equal pay violation, and of firing a former employee to cover up ethical lapses by her superior.” The suit was filed in New York Supreme Court by a former female sales executive, Hong Perez.
A lawsuit filed earlier this month against Spotify accuses the music company of partaking in “systemic gender discrimination, defamation, equal pay violation, and of firing a former employee to cover up ethical lapses by her superior.” The suit was filed in New York Supreme Court by a former female sales executive, Hong Perez.
In her suit, Perez accused a handful of “male executives of sexist and unprofessional behavior.” For example, according to the suit, “Spotify CFO Barry McCarthy once said he does not care about diversity at the company.” Additionally, she claimed that “an unnamed HR executive once bragged that his favorite profanity is the word ‘c–.’” On top of that, Perez claimed “another unnamed Spotify executive took employees to an Atlantic City strip club and was later promoted, despite having received warnings for sexual harassment.” As if that weren’t bad enough, she also accused “Spotify’s head of global sales of giving male hires greater compensation and equity, and of going easy on a male executive who was accused of sexual harassment.”
Despite the multiple claims, much of her suit involves Brian Berner, the head of U.S. sales. According to Perez, Berner “selected all-male groups for the company’s presence at the 2016 and 2017 Sundance Film Festivals, excluding women she says were more qualified,” and added that it wasn’t uncommon for Spotify employees to openly discuss drug use and physical altercations that occurred during trips like those to the Sundance Film Festivals. According to Perez, Berner was aware of both the drug use and physical altercations but did nothing to investigate or prevent such behavior.
Additionally, she claimed that she was often used as a scapegoat to protect Berner. For example, in early 2018 Berner got in trouble with his boss after it became known that Berner “accepted gifts and gave discounts to reach deals with buyers.” Shortly afterward, Berner allegedly asked Perez to “draw up summaries of the deals, which Berner allegedly later used to shift blame for his actions to her.” As a result, she was fired “ostensibly for violating the Code of Conduct.”
Both Berner and Spotify are listed as defendants in the suit. At the moment, Perez is seeking unspecified damages for everything from lost wages and back pay to benefits, equity, legal costs, and punitive and compensatory damages.
In response to the lawsuit, a representative for Spotify issued the following statement:
“At Spotify, we do not tolerate discrimination of any kind at any level. While we cannot comment on the specific details of pending litigation, these claims are without merit.”
Sources:
Former Spotify Sales Exec Accuses Company of Gender Discrimination and Defamation in New Lawsuit
Spotify Accused of Gender Discrimination in Lawsuit By Former Sales Executive
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