A former sales executive for Spotify alleges in a gender discrimination suit filed in Manhattan that the streaming music giant tolerates bias against women and gives favorable treatment to male employees—of whom some, she says, took part in “boys' trips” with co-workers to strip clubs and film festivals.

Hong Perez, a former sales executive who began working with Spotify in 2015 and says she received positive reviews on her job performance during her tenure, said during her time with the company she became increasingly concerned about its culture with regard to how women are treated.

Perez alleges in a suit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court that the boys' club tone of the company was set by people in other leadership positions, including her boss Brian Berner, whom she says engineered her termination to make her a scapegoat for getting into “hot water” with his own superiors over a deal he brokered to obtain concert tickets.

She alleges that in 2016 and 2017, Berner took all-male groups from Spotify's sales management team with him to the Sundance Film Festival, despite the fact that there are women working in senior sales positions. The trips, which were referred to internally as Berner's “boys' trips,” included stories of Spotify employees using drugs and getting into physical altercations that she says went unpunished.

Perez also alleges that Berner and Spotify's global head of sales, who is unnamed in her complaint, gave higher pay raises and equity to men when compared with women; and that the head of sales and a male-only group of managers went to Atlantic City for a purported “business trip” in which they attended strip clubs.

Perez is bringing her gender discrimination claims under New York City and New York State human rights laws and an equal pay discrimination claim under the state Labor Law. She has also brought a defamation claim against the company, alleging that after her termination, Berner sent an email to hundreds of employees and executives stating that Perez was fired for violating Spotify's code of conduct.

A Spotify spokeswoman said in an email that the company is not commenting on Perez's specific allegations but said her claims are “without merit.”

“At Spotify, we do not tolerate discrimination of any kind at any level,” the spokeswoman said.

Perez is represented by Randolph, New Jersey-based attorney Seth Rafkin.

Spotify is no stranger to legal challenges, though Perez's lawsuit stands out for the fact that it addresses the company's internal culture.

In June 2017, the streaming service agreed to plunk down more than $43.4 million to settle a class action suit filed by songwriters who alleged that they weren't being paid for their work. Three similar suits were filed in the months to follow, with the plaintiff in one of the suits—which seeks $1.6 billion—claiming that the June 2017 settlement was inadequate.

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