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\n\tSony Music is quickly fighting back against a discrimination lawsuit filed by a former assistant to Columbia Records chief executive Ron Perry<\/strong> over race-conscious hiring policies, saying the allegations are \u201ccontradictory and false\u201d and are designed to \u201charass her former employer.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe case, filed last week by Patria Paulino<\/strong>, claims that she was forced to resign after she pushed back on hiring practices that allegedly discriminated against white applicants. She claims she was \u201cexplicitly told that she could only hire Black candidates\u201d because Perry wanted bolster the appearance of diversity.<\/p>\n \n\tBut in a blistering motion on Wednesday \u2013 an unusually fast response for any lawsuit \u2013 attorneys for Sony and Perry called the accusations \u201ccontradictory and false\u201d and asked a federal judge to toss them out of court.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cShe alleges \u2026 that defendants both discriminated against her because they preferred white<\/em> employees but also <\/em>constructively discharged her because she would not play along with their preference for non-white<\/em> employees,\u201d the label\u2019s lawyers wrote, adding the italics themselves for emphasis. \u201cIn reality, plaintiff worked for Sony \u2026 for less than five months, performed poorly, and was a willing participant in the entirely legal hiring practices she now alleges were discriminatory.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tSony\u2019s response argued that far from being effectively fired, Paulino \u201cvoluntarily resigned after receiving unfavorable performance feedback.\u201d The label said she had filed her case simply \u201cto harass her former employer and boss, who sought only to help her succeed in her job.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThough it sharply criticized the merits of the case, Sony\u2019s filing actually attacked the case on simpler grounds: That the federal court where she filed the case cannot procedurally hear it. The company says there is not the required cross-state jurisdiction for the case to be handled in federal court.<\/p>\n \n\tIn a statement to Billboard<\/em>, Paulino\u2019s attorney Erica L. Shnayder<\/strong> stressed that Sony\u2019s motion \u201cinvolves a procedural issue\u201d and \u201chas no bearing on the factual allegations which are supported by text messages.\u201d Shnayder added: \u201cThe case will proceed forward.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tPaulino sued on Friday (March 1), claiming that after she was hired by Sony in late 2022, she was repeatedly told she could not hire white candidates for a vacant assistant role in Perry\u2019s office. She says that Perry had been hit with \u201cmultiple racial discrimination complaints by former employees\u201d and that he and the company wanted to \u201chave more color in his office.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cAlthough numerous Caucasian candidates were qualified for the position, they were removed from consideration because of their race,\u201d Paulino\u2019s lawyers wrote in their complaint.<\/p>\n \n\tThe lawsuit came in the wake of a high-profile Supreme Court ruling last year that outlawed the use of race-conscious admissions in higher education, commonly known as \u201caffirmative action.\u201d Though that ruling didn\u2019t directly deal with hiring or with the state laws at issue in Paulino\u2019s case, it has led to overall increased scrutiny of corporate practices aimed at diversity, equity and inclusion. Last week, CBS and Paramount were hit with a similar lawsuit<\/a>, claiming they had broken the law by using diversity quotas that discriminated against white men.<\/p>\n \n\tDespite the directives to aim for diversity, Paulino\u2019s lawsuit claims she \u201ccontinued to recommend qualified Caucasian applicants\u201d for the role. At one point, when she advanced a particular white candidate, she says that another Sony employee told her in writing: \u201cWe can\u2019t hire another white Jewish girl unfortunately.\u201d Her lawyers say Sony conducted \u201csham\u201d interviews with candidates of all backgrounds, but in reality was determined to only hire a Black candidate.<\/p>\n \n\tIn March 2023, Paulino says she was effectively forced to resign from her job. A Sony employee allegedly told her to do so because she \u201cwas not really working out,\u201d but she says the move was made \u201cin retaliation for plaintiff\u2019s opposition to defendants\u2019 discriminatory hiring practices.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAs noted in Sony\u2019s response, the lawsuit also includes other allegations beyond the hiring policies. In addition to claiming the company discriminated against white job seekers, Paulino (who says she is Hispanic) also claims that the company also discriminated against her on the basis of her race.<\/p>\n \n\tA spokesperson for Sony Music declined to comment on the lawsuit\u2019s allegations, citing the pending nature of the case.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n