She claims the company promoted White male colleagues while passing over Black women
Spotify is facing a federal lawsuit from a former senior manager who claims the company promoted White male colleagues over Black women, ignored her disability, and fired her unfairly.
Michelle Atkins, who identifies as Trinidadian/Black, filed the suit on December 26, 2025, in the Southern District of New York. She names the streaming giant and her former supervisor, Erin Kelly, as defendants. The case has not yet been decided.
Atkins spent years in Spotify's accounting department before rising to Senior Manager in March 2023. Before joining the company, she built her career at Ernst & Young, Cornerstone Accounting Group LLP, Verisk Analytics, SFX Entertainment Inc., and Horizon Media Inc.
At the heart of her allegations is a troubling pattern she says played out at Spotify: three White male employees who started around the same time as three Black female employees all moved up the ladder. The Black women did not.
When Atkins met with her then-manager in February 2021, she says he told her she "exceeded expectations." But a promotion was not in the cards. The reason given, according to her filing, was that there was "no room in the structure." She received a one-time grant instead. Another Black colleague, Kanika Shields, eventually left the company because she was not paid the same as her peers, Atkins claims.
Things took a turn in July 2024 when Erin Kelly became her supervisor. Atkins alleges that within three months, Kelly began publicly picking on her. She describes an earlier encounter at a Barcelona conference in December 2022 where Kelly allegedly turned her back when Atkins tried to greet her.
The suit also raises questions about how Spotify handled Atkins' medical needs. She has fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis, conditions she says she disclosed to colleagues and supervisors in 2023. While accommodations were "technically granted" in February 2025, Atkins alleges no actual adjustments were made to her work expectations. She claims Kelly criticized her for not speaking up in meetings, despite her conditions causing widespread body pains and fatigue.
Atkins was terminated on February 28, 2025. She alleges the way she was escorted out stood in stark contrast to how White employees were treated. She says she was told to shut off her computer immediately and leave, while Kelsey Reagan, a White woman who was also let go, was given time to wrap up and say goodbye to colleagues.
Atkins had been part of Spotify's Black diversity program since 2019, a group that discusses low representation and retention of Black employees. She says she raised her concerns with Horacio Gutierrez but was told it was not her time and to work with her manager toward a promotion.
Spotify has not yet responded to the lawsuit.
