Spotify Sued for Race Discrimination by Fired Black Sales Exec: ‘Unequal Playing Field’

A former Spotify sales executive is suing the music streamer over accusations that it “systematically disadvantaged” Black employees and subjected them to a “pattern of mistreatment.”

In a lawsuit filed Thursday (Dec. 18) in Manhattan federal court, Aisha Mootry claims Spotify “intentionally discriminated” against her during her three years as a director of sales, including by holding her to heightened standards and denying her equal support.

Mootry, who says she was one of only three Black employees at Spotify’s Chicago office, says her concerns were ignored when she raised the issue with HR — that is, until she was fired in January for what she calls “pretextual reasons.”

“Spotify’s decision to systematically disadvantage Ms. Mootry and other Black employees, particularly Black women in leadership, by setting them up for failure and then blaming them for the consequences of this unequal treatment is consistent with its pattern of mistreatment and retaliation,” her attorneys write.

In a statement to Billboard on Thursday, a Spotify spokesperson said: “We strongly disagree with these allegations. Spotify is committed to a workplace where everyone is treated fairly and with respect.”

Mootry says she was hired in 2020 as a contractor, then brought in as a full-time employee in 2021. She says she exceeded expectations in the role, leading her team to generate more than $42 million in revenue in 2023, 36 percent higher than her target number.

But she claims that from the beginning, she faced “discriminatory treatment and adverse employment conditions as compared to her non-Black counterparts.” That allegedly included a sub-par team of staffers beneath her, a portfolio of weaker sales accounts, unfairly high performance standards and a failure to address discriminatory behavior by other staffers.

“Spotify … condoned an atmosphere where colleagues circulated race-based and stereotypical allegations that Ms. Mootry was difficult to work, perpetuating the ‘angry Black woman’ stereotype,” her lawyers write.

Mootry claims that the company also tolerated “openly insubordinate” conduct from the staffers under her, including one uninviting her from a key client meeting. She also says she was excluded from important leadership events like team dinners, and that she and her other Black colleagues were treated like they were “invisible” at the office.

“Spotify disregarded, silenced, and overlooked Black employees,” Mootry’s lawyers write. “This exclusion was not incidental — it was deliberate, persistent, and deeply isolating.”

The lawsuit claims Mootry “complained about this discriminatory behavior on numerous occasions,” but was repeatedly ignored, including in a meeting in which she says her gripes about insubordination were “dismissed outright” and she was allegedly told she “should consider finding another job.” Eventually, in January, she says she was fired after she was told “it just wasn’t working.”

“Spotify’s termination of Ms. Mootry’s employment was the culmination of its discriminatory treatment and the final act in a years-long effort to push her out of the company,” her lawyers write.

In technical terms, Mootry is accusing Spotify of violating federal as well as New York state and New York City civil rights laws, both via alleged discrimination and alleged retaliation against her by firing her.