A former employee's suit claiming racial and gender discrimination against New York-based WeWork has been removed from New York state court, according to an online docket.

Ayesha Whyte, an attorney once recruited to work in WeWork's legal department, filed suit in the New York Supreme Court on Friday. Shortly after the suit was filed, attorneys for WeWork, Kenneth Turnbull and Dana Brady of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius in New York, removed the suit to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. They said in court filings that the state court does not have jurisdiction because Whyte does not live in New York and the amount of damages Whyte is seeking exceeds $75,000.

Turnbull and Brady did not respond to request for comment Monday.

In the complaint, Whyte, an African American woman, says that in 2018 she was working as a corporate director of employee relations at The Walt Disney Co. when she was recruited for an unspecified role at WeWork. She was later offered the job of director of employee relations at WeWork's Chelsea, New York, office where she would be paid $190,000 a year. She claims WeWork quickly undermined the offer and said she would fill an undetermined position and that she would be based in Washington, D.C. A few months after being hired, she claims her salary was cut by 20%.

Whyte claimed the role she was initially offered was later given to a white man who had less experience and that she had not been offered to interview for that role. Further, she said when she brought pay disparity issues to human resources, her concerns were not thoroughly investigated.

Whyte alleges that on Oct. 27, 2019, she was let go as a part of a workforce reduction plan. However, no one else in the employee relations department was impacted by the cuts. The company, she claims, has tried to retaliate against her for bringing the suit.

"Once WeWork became aware of Plaintiff's intent to proceed with this case, it repeatedly threatened that it would seek an award of attorney's fees and costs against her should she dare bring her case in a public court of law instead of through, private confidential arbitration," Whyte states in the complaint.

Whyte is alleging retaliation and race and gender discrimination under the New York State Human Rights Law and New York City Human Rights Law; retaliation under New York Labor Law Section 125; and race and gender discrimination under District of Columbia Human Rights Act. She is seeking damages for lost wages, damages for emotional distress and humiliation, punitive damages and attorneys' fees.

Seth Rafkin, representing Whyte, declined to comment beyond the complaint. However, this is not the first time he is the counsel of record in a suit against WeWork. He is currently representing a woman who claims she was sexually harassed and fired for bringing up the alleged harassment. That case is pending in the New York Supreme Court.

A spokesperson for WeWork denied the allegations in an email to Corporate Counsel.

"At WeWork, we prioritize equal employment opportunity, including hiring, promotion and compensation, and believe these claims are wholly without merit," the spokesperson said.

WeWork has found itself at the top of headlines in the last year. It was slated to go public in 2019, however, it postponed its initial public offering after founder and then-CEO Adam Neumann was ousted from his role. The company also came under scrutiny when reports surfaced that Neumann would be paid approximately $1 billion to walk away from the company.