EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION
LOS ANGELES DISTRICT OFFICE
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DEBORAH DUGAN,
:
:
Claimant,
: CHARGE OF
: DISCRIMINATION
v.
:
:
NATIONAL ACADEMY OF RECORDING ARTS :
AND SCIENCES,
:
:
Respondent.
:
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PRELIMINARY STATEMENT
1.

On December 22, 2019, Deborah Dugan, the recently hired Chief Executive

Officer (“CEO”) and President of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (the
“Recording Academy” or, simply, the “Academy”) sent an email to Shonda Grant, Managing
Director, People and Culture (Human Resources (“HR”)).
2.

In Ms. Dugan’s December 22, 2019 email (attached as Exhibit A), she described

sexual harassment to which she was subjected by Joel Katz. Esq., an attorney who is general
counsel to the Academy and a former member and Chair of the Academy’s Board of Trustees
(the “Board”).
3.

The email also detailed egregious conflicts of interest, improper self-dealing by

Board members and voting irregularities with respect to nominations for Grammy Awards, all
made possible by the “boys’ club” mentality and approach to governance at the Academy.
4.

In addition, the email complained that Ms. Dugan had been asked by the then-

current Chair of the Board, John Poppo to hire former CEO Neil Portnow as a consultant for the
hefty sum of $750,000. Mr. Portnow bowed away from the Academy in disgrace after making
misogynistic remarks about woman recording artists. As Ms. Dugan came to learn after she

 agreed to take the CEO position (for which she was paid substantially less than her two male
predecessors), Mr. Portnow also allegedly raped a female recording artist, which was, upon
information and belief, the real reason his contract was not renewed.
5.

The end of Ms. Dugan’s December 22, 2019 email reads:
Let me close with a simple observation. In my efforts to
successfully resolve the many outstanding lawsuits facing the
Academy that I inherited, one of the claimants characterized her
experience of our organization’s leadership as “…it’s a boy’s club
and they put their financial interest above the mission….” At the
time, I didn’t want to believe it, but now after 5 months of being
exposed to the behavior and circumstances outlined here, I have
come to suspect she is right.

6.

There is no better way to illustrate the existence of the “boys’ club” mentality at

the Academy than to look at the way Ms. Dugan has been treated since her December 22, 2019
email complaint to HR.
7.

Only three weeks after sending her complaint to HR, on January 16, 2020 Ms.

Dugan was put on administrative leave by the members of the Board’s Executive Committee.
The decision to put Ms. Dugan on leave was clearly made in retaliation for her complaint, and
came with thinly veiled threats of termination in the event that Ms. Dugan persisted in pursuing
claims against the Academy.
8.

At the time she was put on leave, Harvey Mason, the Chair of the Board (and

current interim-CEO), told Ms. Dugan that the Academy would not provide any statements
regarding the leave other than, if asked, to say that Ms. Dugan had taken a leave of absence.
9.

Despite this assurance, just minutes later the Board leaked to the press that Ms.

Dugan had been “placed” on administrative leave “in light of concerns raised to the Recording
Academy board of trustees, including a formal allegation of misconduct by a senior female
member of the Recording Academy team.”

2

 10.

This explanation was completely false and defamatory. It was designed to

retaliate against Ms. Dugan, threaten her, and malign her reputation.
11.

As will be described in detail herein, Ms. Dugan was not placed on leave because

of any accusation by a senior female member of the Academy.
12.

After Ms. Dugan wrote her December 22, 2019 email, she put the Academy on

notice that she intended to bring claims against the Academy. On January 16, 2020, after the
Academy backed out of a resolution that had nearly been reached in principle to resolve Ms.
Dugan’s legal claims, Mr. Mason conveyed the Board’s new unacceptable offer of settlement.
Mr. Mason also told Ms. Dugan that she had only one hour to accept the Academy’s proposal.
When Ms. Dugan failed to do so, the Board immediately put her on administrative leave. The
leave had nothing to do with any accusations made against Ms. Dugan. It was retaliation, pure
and simple.
13.

The concerns referenced in the Academy’s statement to the press – which were

made by Mr. Portnow’s Executive Assistant, not a “senior female member” of the Academy –
had been raised well more than a month prior to Ms. Dugan being put on leave. Yet, Ms. Dugan
was not put on leave when the allegations were first raised, nor was she put on leave after the
Academy’s receipt of a demand letter from the accuser.
14.

Instead, Ms. Dugan was only put on leave after raising complaints about sexual

harassment and other improprieties, indicating her intent to commence legal action and refusing
to settle her claims on terms dictated by the Academy.
15.

Moreover, the Board knows very well that the complaints raised by the accuser

are completely without merit (and even conceded that the accuser violated multiple Academy
policies in the weeks leading to her complaints). However, even if the Board genuinely believed

3

 that the accusations had merit (which they did and do not), the accusations are not of the sort that
would ever result in a CEO being put on administrative leave.
16.

In short, Ms. Dugan was accused of acting in a hostile manner towards an

Executive Assistant. Again, the Board was ready to hire Mr. Portnow as a consultant and pay
him $750,000, even after he was accused of rape, made misogynistic comments and resigned in
disgrace. The Board certainly did not put Ms. Dugan on administrative leave because it believed
she was rude to an Executive Assistant (and, if it had, such decision would simply further
highlight the Academy’s discriminatory decision making).
17.

As if the foregoing was not enough, just yesterday, with the knowledge that Ms.

Dugan was about to file this Charge, Mr. Mason penned and published (and leaked to the press)
a false, retaliatory and defamatory letter designed to “get out in front” of this Charge and further
destroy Ms. Dugan’s reputation.
18.

The January 20, 2020 letter essentially accuses Ms. Dugan of manufacturing legal

claims after being put on notice of Ms. Little’s claims. As described above and herein, that is
false. From the very beginning of her employment – as laid out in detail herein – Ms. Dugan
complained about and attempted to remedy the lack of diversity at the Academy, as well as
nearly all of the improprieties complained about in her December 22, 2019 email. Ms. Dugan
was not the only one. Other employees, Board members and even recording artists have made
various complaints about most of these issues as well.
19.

What is worse, the letter insinuates that Ms. Dugan attempted to extort the

Academy (false) and subsequent statements by representatives of the Academy have resulted in
press coverage accusing Ms. Dugan of extortion. That was precisely the intended effect of the
Academy’s reprehensible conduct.

4

 20.

The Executive Committee is trying to paint Ms. Dugan as a money-hungry liar.

Nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, Ms. Dugan took the CEO job at the Academy
because she firmly believes that music can save lives. She left a comfortable job in New York
City, and moved her family across the country to join the Academy. She spent every day of her
tenure working in the best interests of the Academy.
21.

Six months later, the Board is doing everything it can to destroy Ms. Dugan for

the sole reason that she posed a threat to the “boys’ club.” In fact, this very day Mr. Mason is
calling high caliber artists and related people, including John Legend’s Manager, Ty Stiklorius.
Mr. Mason is defaming Ms. Dugan by telling these people, among other things, that Ms. Dugan
attempted to extort $22mm from the Academy. This is flat out false, but Mr. Mason is intent on
fully destroying Ms. Dugan, a strong woman who was willing to “step up” to combat rampant
discrimination and improprieties at the Academy.
22.

The damage that the Academy has done to Ms. Dugan is immeasurable and can

never be remedied. However, Ms. Dugan will do everything in her power to hold the Academy
and the Board responsible for the unlawful conduct described herein.
FACTS
I.

BACKGROUND
A.

The Academy and Its Historically Male Dominated Leadership

23.

The Academy, which was established in 1957, is a public, not-for-profit academy

of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals, famous for
organizing and presenting music’s most important awards ceremony, the Grammy Awards.
24.

The 1st Annual Grammy Awards were held in 1959. On this coming Sunday,

January 26, 2020, the Academy will present the 62nd edition of the Grammy Awards.

5

 25.

The Academy has 12 chapters in various locations throughout the United States.

The 12 chapters are located in in Atlanta, Chicago, Florida, Los Angeles, Memphis, Nashville,
New York City, the Pacific Northwest, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Texas, and Washington
D.C.
26.

The Academy has had very few women in senior executive positions. Prior to

Ms. Dugan’s hire, only two women at the Academy had ever attained the title of Senior Vice
President; one eventually retired after receiving no further promotions and the other departed
after her requests to be promoted were repeatedly ignored.
B.

Women and Minority Groups Are Historically Underrepresented at the
Grammys

27.

The Grammy Awards have been widely criticized in recent years because of its

apparent exclusion of many female artists from consideration for awards.
28.

Indeed, a 2018 study by the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative made clear that the

gender gap at the Grammy Awards is real. As reported in that study, between 2013 and 2018,
only 9.3% of the nominees in the Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best
New Artist and Producer of the Year categories were women.
29.

The 2018 ceremony highlighted the Grammys similarly long-standing struggle

with gender inequality — the sole woman to receive an award during the telecast was best new
artist Alessia Cara. Moreover, megastar Lorde, the only woman to be nominated for album of
the year, was not even invited to perform her music.
30.

The Grammy Awards also have been criticized over the years over the lack of

diversity with respect to the winners of the most prestigious awards. These awards rarely go to
rap and contemporary R&B stars, including widely acclaimed artists like Beyoncé, Kanye West,
Kendrick Lamar, Eminem and Mariah Carey. While those acts have won in the rap and R&B
6

 categories, when it comes to the most coveted prizes such as Album, Song and Record of the
Year, the winners tend to be in the rock, country and pop genres.
31.

Notably, in the entire history of the Grammys, only 10 Black artists have won

Album of the Year and it was not until 2004 when the first rap album, Outkast’s
SpeakerBoxxx/The Love Below, won Album of the Year.
32.

The Recording Academy has routinely faced criticism for failing to honor Black

artists. For instance, critics have pointed out that even the Best Rap Album category tends to
favor White artists, with Eminem taking the award seven times, and Macklemore & Ryan
Lewis’s album beating out what many regard as superior releases from Kendrick Lamar, Drake
and Kanye West in 2014.
33.

In 2012, the Recording Academy was criticized when Mumford & Sons took

Album of the Year, which many regarded as an insult to Frank Ocean’s album “Channel
Orange,” and led to Ocean declining to submit his 2016 album named Blonde for award
consideration. Ocean was quoting as saying, “I think the infrastructure of the awarding system
and the nomination system and screening system is dated. I’d rather this be my Colin
Kaepernick moment for the Grammys than sit there in the audience.”
34.

In 2017, the Academy was also criticized when Adele’s album named “25” beat

out Beyoncé’s album named “Lemonade” for Album of the Year.
35.

In 2019, the Academy was criticized for cutting off the acceptance speeches of

Grammy Awards winners Drake and Dua Lipa, both of whom had made comments critical of the
Academy. In particular, Drake criticized the Academy and said, “We play an opinion-based
sport, not a factual-based sport. This is a business where sometimes it’s up to a bunch of people

7

 that might not understand what a mixed-race kid from Canada might have to say or a fly Spanish
girl from New York,” before his microphone was cut out.
C.

Neil Portnow

36.

Ms. Dugan’s predecessor, Neil Portnow, held the position of CEO at the

Academy for over 16 years.
37.

Mr. Portnow left the position on a very negative note after he suggested,

following the male-dominated 2018 Grammy Awards ceremony, that female artists should “step
up” if they wanted to be recognized at the Grammys.
38.

Mr. Portnow later announced that he would not return to his position once his

contract expired months after this comment, which was widely criticized and prompted calls
from high-profile artists for his immediate resignation. However, the Board stuck by Mr.
Portnow’s side and did not terminate his employment or even secure his resignation.
39.

An online petition posted by singer-songwriter Vanessa Carlton calling for his

resignation surpassed its goal of 10,000 signatures; more than 30,000 people had signed the
document.
40.

The remarks were criticized by Pink, Sheryl Crow, Katy Perry, India Arie and

41.

As described below, after agreeing to take the CEO job, Ms. Dugan also learned

others.

that Mr. Portnow had been accused of rape.
42.

Mr. Portnow was not even the first Academy CEO to be accused of sexual

misconduct. Indeed, Mr. Portnow’s predecessor, Mike Greene, was forced to resign from the
CEO position after he got caught up in his own sexual harassment scandal.

8

 II.

THE TASK FORCE
43.

In the wake of the controversy surrounding Mr. Portnow’s comments, in March

2018, the Academy established a task force to examine issues of diversity and inclusion within it
and the broader music community (the “Task Force”).
44.

The Task Force was formed specifically to examine “conscious and unconscious

bias” in the music industry that impacts women and people of color.
45.

The Task Force was headed by Tina Tchen, former Chief of Staff to First Lady

Michelle Obama, and the current President of Time’s Up, an advocacy group aimed at
campaigning for safer and more equitable work conditions for women across multiple industries.
46.

The Academy provided data to the Task Force at the outset of its work that made

it abundantly clear that a lack of diversity in the voting membership was a serious problem.
47.

For example, as of April 2018, one month after the formation of the Task Force,

women made up only 20% of the Academy’s Voting Members. The racial diversity numbers,
while slightly better, still reflected significant underrepresentation of the Asian-American and
Hispanic communities in the membership.
48.

In December 2019, the Task Force concluded in its 47-page final report that the

biases affecting women, people of color and LGBTQ creators in the music business are deeply
ingrained.
49.

Notably, the Task Force discovered that the Academy’s membership, including

the 12,000 voting members who participate in Grammy Awards nomination and awards
decisions, is overwhelmingly White and male.
50.

The same was evident on the special committees (discussed in more detail infra)

that review recordings submitted for award consideration.

9

 51.

The Task Force, in particular, found that two of the Academy’s committees that

serve vital internal and external functions – the national governance committees and nomination
review committees – had “historically not been comprised of diverse members.”
52.

The national governance committees play a key role in setting corporate policy

for the Academy, touching virtually every part of its functions, pursuant to authority the Board
delegates to them.
53.

The nomination review committees (the members of which are shrouded in

secrecy), on the other hand, play a specific role with respect to the selection of Grammy Awards
nominees. For awards categories that have such committees – including the “Big Four” awards
for Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist – these
committees ultimately determine who will be nominated for Grammy Awards. The role of the
nomination review committees is described in further detail infra.
54.

Despite the indisputable importance of these committees, the Task Force found

that they have historically not included members that reflect the demographics of society at
large. For example, between 2015 and 2018, 71% of the national governance committee
members were men, while only 29% were female; and between 2015 and 2017, the members of
the nomination review committees in the aggregate were 74% male, 26% female.
55.

The Task Force further found that the members comprising the Board historically

have not been diverse from either a gender or ethnicity perspective. Between 2012 and the
present, the Board has been approximately 68% male and 69% Caucasian.
III.

THE GRAMMY VOTING PROCESS IS RIPE WITH CORRUPTION
56.

As described above, the Grammy voting process is illustrative of the “boys’ club”

mentality that exists at the Academy and amongst its Board members.

10

 57.

Rather than promoting a transparent nomination process, the Board has decided to

shroud the process in secrecy, and ultimately controls, in large part, who is nominated for
Grammy Awards.
58.

Submissions for awards are, in the first instance, voted on by the Academy’s

12,000 voting members.
59.

Thereafter, the top 20 selections are reviewed by “secret committees” (the

nomination review committees), the members of which are chosen by Bill Freimuth, the Head of
Awards, along with the Board Chair.
60.

Board members, including those who represent or have relationships with

nominated artists, sit on these secret committees.
61.

The purpose of the nomination review committees is, ostensibly, to narrow the 20

potential nominations (which are ranked from 1 to 20 based on the membership’s voting) down
to the five to eight (depending on the category) most deserving artists prior to resubmitting the
final list to the voting members of the Academy.
62.

However, the Board uses these committees as an opportunity to push forward

artists with whom they have relationships. Indeed, it is not unusual for artists who have
relationships with Board members and who ranked at the bottom of the initial 20-artist list to end
up receiving nominations.
63.

The Board also manipulates the nominations process to ensure that certain songs

or albums are nominated when the producer of the Grammys (Ken Ehrlich) wants a particular
song performed during the show.
64.

To make matters worse, the Board is permitted to simply add in artists for

nominations who did not even make the initial 20-artist list. Naturally, the members of the

11

 Board and the secret committees chose artists with whom they have personal or business
relationships. This year, 30 artists that were not selected by the membership were added to the
possible nomination list.
65.

Moreover, in an outrageous conflict of interest, the Board has selected artists who

are under consideration for a nomination to sit on the committee that is voting for the category
for which that have been nominated. As a result, one artist who initially ranked 18 out of 20 in
the 2019 “Song of the Year” category ended up with a nomination. This artist was actually
permitted to sit on the “Song of the Year” nomination committee. Incredibly, this artist is also
represented by a member of the Board.
66.

As a result of the foregoing, it is not surprising that many high caliber artists who

could have taken home the award in a specific category, have, , at times, not been nominated at
all. For instance, Ed Sheeran and Ariana Grande, who had been voted for by the membership,
missed out on nominations in the 2019 “Song of the Year” category in part because the
aforementioned artist who ranked 18 out of 20 was nominated instead.
67.

Similarly, in the “secret committee” for Best Jazz Vocals, artists that were up for

an award in that category also participated in the nomination voting process. Ms. Dugan actually
learned about this from a Grammy Award winning artist who was also a committee member (she
was not up for a nomination that year), who complained about improprieties and conflicts of
interest within the nomination process.

12

 IV.

THE ACADEMY HIRES MS. DUGAN AS ITS FIRST WOMAN CEO AND
PRESIDENT
A.

Ms. Dugan is a Highly Accomplished Professional with Decades of
Experience

68.

Ms. Dugan is an extremely accomplished individual with over 30 years of

professional experience.
69.

Ms. Dugan began her career as an attorney at Mudge, Rose, Guthrie, Alexander &

Ferdon, a leading wall-street law firm.
70.

In 1989, Ms. Dugan decided to transition into not-for-profit work and took the

position of Director of Legal Services at Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, a nationwide not-forprofit organization that provided legal services to artists and various cultural entities.
71.

Having fallen in love with the music industry, Ms. Dugan next took a position at

EMI Records Group / Angel Records (“EMI”), where she rose to the rank of Executive Vice
President.
72.

After eight successful years at EMI, Ms. Dugan joined Disney Publishing

Worldwide. Ms. Dugan worked for Disney Publishing Worldwide for eight years, until 2006.
During Ms. Dugan’s last four years with Disney Publishing Worldwide, she served as its
President. Disney Publishing Worldwide was a $2bln at retail division of the larger Walt Disney
Company, and Ms. Dugan was one of only six Presidents at the Walt Disney Company.
73.

Starting in 2009 Ms. Dugan served as a Senior Advisor to the Board of Tribeca

Music Enterprises. Tribeca Music Enterprises is a diversified global media company that was
established by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff. Tribeca Music Enterprises
operates, among other things, the Tribeca Film Festival.

13

 74.

Finally, in 2011, Ms. Dugan was recruited to become the CEO of (RED), a not-

for-profit organization founded by U2’s Bono and Bobby Shriver that has raised over $600mm to
save lives in the fight against AIDS.
75.

At the time Ms. Dugan joined (RED), Bono accurately remarked, “She’s got

firecracking energy, great creativity and a hardcore business background.” Ms. Dugan was
extremely dedicated to the mission of (RED) and took many trips to Africa during her tenure in
order to better understand the AIDS crisis and its impact.
76.

In addition to all of her other work, Ms. Dugan has given speeches at the United

Nations on equality for women and is a Forbes women’s writer of articles such as “Bring Your
Values to Work” and “Purpose and Career.”
B.

Ms. Dugan is the Board’s First Choice for CEO of the Academy

77.

In the early spring of 2019, Ms. Dugan was contacted by the consulting firm Korn

Ferry in connection with its search for a new CEO and President of the Academy.
78.

At the time, Ms. Dugan was not a candidate for the position, nor was she

interested in leaving (RED). Rather, Ms. Dugan was asked by Korn Ferry about her opinion of
various candidates.
79.

However, by the end of this first conversation, the Korn Ferry recruiter realized

that Ms. Dugan would be the perfect candidate for the role. Indeed, Ms. Dugan had an enviable
combination of experience in governance, deal making, marketing, the music industry and notfor-profit companies.
80.

Although Ms. Dugan was happily working and living in New York City, she

agreed to be interviewed by the Board’s Search Committee.

14

 81.

After two interviews (one by teleconference, and one in person), Ms. Dugan was

selected as one of the finalists for the position. At the time, Ms. Dugan was still very uncertain
as to whether she would even accept the role if it was offered given that it would require her and
her family to uproot their lives and move across the country to Los Angeles.
82.

Indeed, Ms. Dugan was regularly contacted about opportunities to head high

profile institutions and entities, including, among others, the Girl Scouts of America and the
Humane Society. Ms. Dugan never explored these opportunities because of her deep love for the
work she did with (RED).
83.

Nevertheless, Ms. Dugan flew across the country to meet (along with multiple

other candidates) with the full 40-member Board.
84.

During the interview process, Ms. Dugan repeatedly spoke about the lack of

diversity at the Academy and the need to increase it.
85.

Following her interview with the full Board, Ms. Dugan received a call from the

Academy notifying her that she was the top choice (out of more than 100 interviewed
candidates) for the CEO position.
86.

Ms. Dugan spent the following weeks negotiating a contract with the Academy,

which was ultimately signed on May 8, 2019. The contract provided for a three-year term of
employment commencing on August 1, 2019. The contract also provided that in the event that
Ms. Dugan was terminated without cause or left for good reason prior to the expiration of the
term, she would receive a significant payout from the Academy.
87.

However, even at these early stages the gender discrimination that permeates the

Academy was evident, as evidenced by the fact that Ms. Dugan was offered significantly less
compensation than her male predecessor, Mr. Portnow, was being paid.

15

 88.

When Ms. Dugan asked to be paid commensurate with the compensation received

by Mr. Portnow, her request was rejected and she was told that she should be happy to be earning
more than she had in her previously role (the Board was aware of her profit compensation
because not-for-profits are required to publicly report executive compensation). This attitude
and conduct, of course, perpetuates the gender pay gap and is the reason that many states,
including California, have banned employers from asking potential hires about prior
compensation information.
V.

MAY 2019 – MS. DUGAN DISCOVERS EXORBITANT IMPROPER
EXPENDITURES, IS SEXUALLY HARASSED AND LEARNS THAT MR.
PORTNOW ALLEGEDLY RAPED AN ARTIST
A.

Ms. Dugan Learns that the Academy Pays Exorbitant Fees to Outside Legal
Counsel Who are Heavily Conflicted

89.

As described throughout this Charge, the Academy is a “boys’ club” network

where men work together to the disadvantage of women and disenfranchised groups in order to
line their own pockets and maintain a firm grip of control on the Academy’s dealings.
90.

This is evident in many ways, including, but not limited to, the Board’s

willingness to acquiesce to the payment of exorbitant legal fees to male partners of large law
firms who are extremely conflicted with respect to their work for the Academy.
91.

Joel Katz, an attorney at the law firm Greenberg Trauig, is general counsel to the

Academy and a former Board member and Board Chair. 1
92.

Mr. Katz and his law firm are paid an exorbitant amount of money by the

Academy. To begin, Mr. Katz is personally paid $250,000 per year (plus reimbursement of

1

See https://www.gtlaw.com/en/professionals/k/katz-joel-a.
16

 travel and expenses that were incurred without any prior authorization) simply to be on call in
the event the Board needs any legal advice.
93.

On top of that, according to news reports, Greenberg Trauig billed the Board for

over $15mm in legal work over a period of only a few years.
94.

As if this is not enough, Mr. Katz and his law firm also are paid hefty sums on a

transactional basis.
95.

Greenberg Trauig is not the only law firm that reaps the benefit of the Board’s

irresponsible spending. Indeed, media reports have identified Proskauer Rose (and former
Proskauer Rose partner, Chuck Ortner) as another firm that has billed millions of dollars to the
Academy, which is a not-for-profit entity. Both Mr. Katz and Mr. Ortner are currently Board
members of the Academy’s museum.
96.

Indeed, during the first week of her employment Ms. Dugan was asked to approve

a $250,000 retainer agreement to Mr. Ortner for “consulting” services.
97.

In exchange for all of this money, Mr. Katz and Mr. Ortner apparently feel the

need to be overly involved in the business of the Academy. Indeed, according to media reports,
“insiders,” say that “the Academy and Grammy leadership … is largely run by [former Academy
CEO Portnow], attorneys Joel Katz and Chuck Ortner[ ] along with longtime Grammy executive
producer Ken Ehrlich and CBS executive VP Jack Sussman.” 2 Indeed, Board Chair Mr. Mason
told Dugan “the future of the Recording Academy is in Joel Katz’s hands.”
98.

This presents a huge conflict of interest, as Mr. Katz and Mr. Ortner also

represent individual Board members (Mr. Katz represents Mr. Mason in personal matters and,

2

See https://variety.com/2019/music/news/who-is-deborah-dugan-neil-portnow-replacementgrammy-awards-recording-academy-1203191083/.
17

 upon information and belief, is not compensated for this “side work”), recording artists and/or
other entities and individuals in the music industry with personal interests in decision making at
the Academy. As a result, Mr. Katz and Mr. Ortner are in unique and conflicted positions to
curry unwarranted favor from the Board (in exchange for personal legal services). They also are
in unique and conflicted positions to influence Academy decision making (including award
nominations) to favor their clients outside of the Academy.
99.

Ms. Dugan, being a lawyer herself, immediately recognized the impropriety of the

Academy’s expenditures on outside counsel, as well as the conflicts of interest at issue, and
attempted to take immediate steps to rectify these problems.
100.

Indeed, in December 2019 Ms. Dugan publicly stated that the Academy would be

seeking to hire in in-house attorney to handle much of the work that is being performed by
Greenberg Traurig and Proskauer Rose. This would have saved the Academy millions of dollars.
101.

Rather than follow Ms. Dugan’s guidance, the Academy decided to increase the

amount of money it pays to Mr. Katz and Mr. Ortner and further perpetuate the “boys’ club”
environment.
B.

Ms. Dugan Is Sexually Harassed By Mr. Katz

102.

In May 2019, before Ms. Dugan even began her work at the Academy, she was

invited to attend the first day of a three-day meeting of the Academy’s Board at the Ritz Carlton,
Laguna Niguel 3
103.

Prior to coming to the meeting, Ms. Dugan was contacted by Mr. Katz and he

requested that Ms. Dugan have dinner with him, alone, the night of May 18, 2019.

3

The Board also has held meetings at other lavish locales, including four Board meetings
in Hawaii.
18

 104.

Ms. Dugan was perplexed by this request, as she believed that if she was going to

go to dinner with anyone, it should be to meet the Board’s Chair or Executive Committee.
Despite her reservations, she agreed to join Mr. Katz for dinner as so not to upset the applecart
before she even began her work at the Academy.
105.

Throughout their May 18, 2019 dinner (Mr. Katz chose a very expensive

restaurant and ordered an outrageously expensive bottle of wine) Mr. Katz acted extremely
inappropriately.
106.

To begin, Mr. Katz repeatedly referred to Ms. Dugan as “baby,” rather than by her

107.

Mr. Katz also repeatedly commented on Ms. Dugan’s physical appearance, telling

name.

her multiple times that she was “very pretty.”
108.

In an obvious and unwelcome attempt to “woo” Ms. Dugan into a romantic

relationship, Mr. Katz began talking about his failed marriage and complaining that he was
“lonely” and had “no one to spend time with.”
109.

Mr. Katz also told Ms. Dugan that he was “very very rich,” had many homes

(including one in Bermuda), and even had a private plane.
110.

Mr. Katz then suggested to Ms. Dugan that the two of them “spend time together”

and said that “traveling to my many homes could be something nice for us to share.”
111.

Ms. Dugan made it clear that she was not interested in Mr. Katz’s advances and

told Mr. Katz that she was in a committed relationship.
112.

Nevertheless, when dinner ended, Mr. Katz leaned in and attempted to kiss Ms.

Dugan. Ms. Dugan quickly turned away, repulsed.

19

 113.

Despite the fact that Ms. Dugan rejected all of Mr. Katz’s advances, he continued

to act inappropriately towards her.
114.

Indeed, in every one-on-one conversation Ms. Dugan had with Mr. Katz

following the May 18, 2019 dinner, he told her that she was pretty and referred to her as “baby.”
C.

Ms. Dugan Learns that Mr. Portnow Allegedly Raped an Artist

115.

Following day-one of the May Board meeting, Ms. Dugan learned that Ms. Tchen

would be speaking about the progress of the Task Force on day-two of the Board meeting.
116.

Ms. Dugan, who had not been invited to day-two, decided to invite herself to day-

two in order to hear what Ms. Tchen had to say.
117.

However, just before Ms. Tchen was scheduled to begin to speak, Ms. Dugan was

hauled into a conference room and told – for the very first time – that a foreign recording artist
(and member of the Academy) had accused Mr. Portnow of raping her following a performance
that she gave at Carnegie Hall.
118.

The news was presented to Ms. Dugan as though the Board had just learned of the

allegation. In reality they were well aware of the allegation at the time Ms. Dugan agreed to take
on the CEO position, but never told her. 4
119.

Incredibly, the full Board had not even been apprised of the allegation despite the

fact that they were supposed to be voting the following day on whether to give Mr. Portnow a
bonus for his past work for the Academy. Ms. Dugan quickly advised that the vote on a bonus
could not go forward until the full Board was told of the rape allegation.

4

According to the artist’s attorney, a psychiatrist has confirmed that the sexual encounter
between her and Mr. Portnow was likely not consensual.
20

 120.

Even worse, prior to disclosing to Ms. Dugan that Mr. Portnow had been accused

of rape, the Board had asked Ms. Dugan to hire Mr. Portnow as a consultant for the hefty sum of
$750,000. Ms. Dugan refused.
D.

“This is Bullshit”

121.

Following the disclosure of the claim against Mr. Portnow, Ms. Dugan returned to

the Board meeting for Ms. Tchen’s speech.
122.

Naturally, Ms. Tchen speech highlighted the Academy’s lack of diversity and

spoke about ways to tackle the issue and increase diversity and inclusion.
123.
VI.

During the speech, one Board member relayed to Ms. Dugan, “this is bullshit.”

MS. DUGAN JOINS THE ACADEMY AND ATTEMPTS TO DRIVE CHANGE
124.

From the very beginning of her employment with the Academy, Ms. Dugan made

clear that she would not tolerate the continuation of the Academy’s decades-long issues with
respect to equality for women and other underrepresented groups.
125.

In her first interview with members of the media after the announcement of her

appointment, Ms. Dugan said, “All the issues that [Mr. Portnow] has addressed have led us to a
larger conversation, and that is a conversation, of course, that we need to have about women and
diversity in music. Where we take it and how we use this organization to effect positive change,
that’s one of the questions I’m most excited to answer in this job.”
126.

She further added, “everywhere I’ve worked has had a culture of inclusivity, of

entrepreneurship thinking, of thinking big, and again, with a beginner’s mind, I want to look at
the Recording Academy and hopefully bring positive change.”
127.

In September 2019, Ms. Dugan publicly pledged to increase diversity and

inclusion at the Academy.

21

 128.

Ms. Dugan also entertained conversations with “dissenters” to the Academy’s

status quo, including with representatives of recording artists such as Kendrick Lamar and
Rhianna.
129.

On October 11, 2019, Ms. Dugan gave an impassioned speech on women’s rights

at a Billboard luncheon with her 92-year-old mother by her side.
130.

In early November 2019, Ms. Dugan prepared and delivered a presentation to the

full Board. During the presentation, she highlighted many aspects of the “boys’ club” culture at
the Academy and proposed ways in which to increase diversity and including.
131.

Among other things, the presentation:
•

Identified “creat[ing] a culture of diversity” as a strategic
goal.

•

Highlighted the fact that the Academy is “way more male
than female” and the importance of reaching a “50/50 gender
balance[].”
Highlighted the fact that the Academy is “not reflective of
the music industry today” and the importance of “diversity
in every way – culturally, ethnically, genre and by age.”

•

•

Pointed out that women “are woefully under-represented in
today’s music” and that men make up nearly 70% of the
voting population (for Grammy nominations and awards) of
the Academy’s membership.

•

Established goals of diversifying the Academy.

•

Stated that the membership of the Academy, which
ultimately determines the Grammy process and Board
structure, is completely lacking in diversity.

22

 132.

The presentation also highlighted the findings of the Task Force and the need to

follow its recommendations. By way of example, the presentation called on the Academy to,
inter alia:

133.

•

“Have diversity in our mission, vision, and values.”

•

“Build a more inclusive working culture and diverse
leadership team.”

•

“Add [a] diversity role to the leadership team.”

•

Diversify the Nomination Review Committees that
determine which artists are ultimately nominated for awards.

•

Hold its Chapters accountable for reaching diversity goals.

•

Double the number of women in the Academy’s voting
membership.

•

Diversify the Board and its governing committees.

Finally, with respect to “next steps,” Ms. Dugan’s presentation called for

“inclusion and diversity in everything we do.”
134.

Ms. Dugan also strongly recommended that the Board decrease payments to male

outside counsel.
135.

Unfortunately, as described below, following Ms. Dugan’s presentation, the

Board apparently came to the determination that it preferred the status quo over diversity and
inclusion, and refused to take action to curb the Academy’s “boys’ club” mentality.
136.

Indeed, following Ms. Dugan’s presentation, the Executive Committee of the

Board held a meeting and specifically excluded Ms. Dugan.

23

 VII.

SHORTLY AFTER THE NOVEMBER 2019 BOARD MEETING, THE BOARD
STRIPS MS. DUGAN OF ALL MEANINGFUL RESPONSIBILITIES
A.

Claudine Little

137.

Claudine Little was the Executive Assistant to Mr. Portnow.

138.

When Ms. Dugan was hired, she was given the option of terminating Ms. Little

and hiring her own Executive Assistant (as would be common in the case of any CEO change at
any company).
139.

Out of nothing more than the goodness of her heart, Ms. Dugan decided not to

terminate Ms. Little, and instead attempt to have her work with Ms. Dugan or find a new role for
her within the organization.
140.

At first, Ms. Dugan allowed Ms. Little to continue with Executive Assistant

duties. However, it quickly became clear that Ms. Little was not up to the task. Among other
issues, Ms. Little did not consistently forward messages to Ms. Dugan and simply did not know
how to manage an Outlook calendar (which she apparently was not required to do for Mr.
Portnow).
141.

Ms. Dugan received numerous complaints attributable to Ms. Little’s conduct,

including from Barbra Streisand’s manager and the Head of Universal Music Publishing Group,
among many other people.
142.

Ultimately, Ms. Dugan offered Ms. Little a Board relations position or an

Executive Assistant position to the soon-to-be-hired head of MusiCares. Ms. Little agreed to the
Board relations position, and even drafted up a job description. However, Ms. Little then
changed her mind and refused the position.
143.

Thus, Ms. Dugan, who still did not terminate Ms. Little, continued to work with

her, as well as HR and an outside consultant, to find a position for Ms. Little.

24

 B.

The Executive Committee Confronts Ms. Dugan

144.

At the end of October 2019, Ms. Little took a leave of absence from the

Academy. She was scheduled to return on November 25, 2019.
145.

When it became clear that Ms. Little would not be returning on November 25,

2019, the Executive Committee abruptly confronted Ms. Dugan and began interrogating her
about the “Little situation.”
146.

Ms. Dugan calmly explained the situation to the Executive Committee and invited

HR to further explain the circumstances. At the time Ms. Little had not even made a legal claim;
she was simply out on leave (a leave that was being managed by HR).
147.

The Executive Committee then started critiquing Ms. Dugan for random things,

including her decision to hire certain consultants and to limit the participants in certain meetings
to individuals who actually needed to be in the room (rather than the entire male dominated
leadership team).
148.

The Executive Committee did not support Ms. Dugan in any way with respect to

Ms. Little. Instead, they seemed hell-bent on blowing the “Little situation” way out of
proportion to use it as an excuse to grasp control over the management of the Academy because
they were unhappy with Ms. Dugan’s calls for more diversity and transparency.
149.

This never would have happened if Ms. Dugan were a man.

C.

The Board Strips Ms. Dugan of All Meaningful Responsibilities

150.

The Board plainly viewed Ms. Dugan as a threat to the Academy’s non-diverse

“boys’ club,” and took immediate steps to curb her authority and ability to make meaningful
changes.

25

 151.

On December 9, 2019, Ms. Dugan received an email from Harvey Mason, the

Chair of the Board. Most notably, the email stated that Ms. Dugan, who was the CEO of the
Academy, was no longer permitted to hire or terminate staff members without Board approval.
The Board also prohibited Ms. Dugan from assigning any new initiatives or special projects to
staff members for at least two months. Ms. Dugan was also prohibited from choosing outside
counsel, presumably to protect the “boys’ club” and Mr. Katz’s and Mr. Ortner’s gravy train.
152.

Obviously these mandates were designed to retaliate against Ms. Dugan for her

efforts to increase diversity and prevent her from doing so.
153.

Moreover, these mandates were issued in direct contradiction to an email that Ms.

Dugan had previously received from Mr. Mason in which he said that she was “well on her way”
with respect to the good work she was doing for the Academy. 5
154.

Ms. Dugan responded to the mandate email on December 16, 2019. Among other

things, Ms. Dugan’s response highlighted the fact that the mandate email seemed to be designed
to curb her ability to achieve progress with respect to “[g]reater diversity among our staff, the
board, and our membership” and the “[e]mpowerment of women, especially in the wake [her]
predecessor’s disturbing legacy.”
155.

Despite Ms. Dugan’s response, her responsibilities were never restored.

156.

Moreover, upon information and belief, Mr. Katz and members of the Board were

simultaneously encouraging Ms. Little to assert baseless legal claims against the Recording
Academy and Ms. Dugan in order to: (i) give the Board an excuse to further diminish Ms.

5

Following receipt of this mandate, Ms. Dugan spoke with Mr. Katz, who told her to
ignore it (likely in the hopes that she would ignore it and then be fired for cause). He also told
her during this conversation that he represents Neiman Marcus and could get her many free
dresses so that she could “look pretty” at Academy events. In exchange, he asked Ms. Dugan to
simply name Neiman Marcus as a sponsor of the Grammy’s. Ms. Dugan, of course, declined.
26

 Dugan’s role and/or terminate her employment; and (ii) camouflage all of the previously
discussed misconduct. Indeed, Mr. Katz and members of the Executive Committee even
admitted that they were in touch with Ms. Little about these issues.
157.

Unsurprisingly, that is exactly what happened. Indeed, the day after Ms. Dugan

responded to the “mandate,” Ms. Little’s attorney sent the Academy a “demand letter” that
falsely accused Ms. Dugan of being a bully.
158.

Despite knowing full well that the claims were completely frivolous and bogus,

Ms. Dugan was warned by Mr. Katz to “get [her] own attorney.”
D.

The Treatment of Ms. Dugan Is Consistent with the Treatment Suffered By
Many Other Women at the Academy

159.

Ms. Dugan was far from the first woman to suffer the discriminatory wrath of the

Academy and/or its Board. Indeed, both before and during her employment Ms. Dugan learned
that other women and members of disenfranchised groups suffered similar discriminatory
conduct at the Academy.
i.
160.

Megan Clarke
By way of example only, the Academy’s prior female Chief Information Officer

(“CIO”), Megan Clarke wrote to Ms. Dugan to tell her that she had been harassed by a male
Board member and reported the matter to HR.
161.

After hearing nothing, Ms. Clarke followed up on her complaint. One hour later,

Ms. Clarke was told that she would be terminated if she did not resign. The former CIO told Ms.
Dugan that she was reduced to tears on numerous occasions, including during meetings with HR.
She warned Ms. Dugan, “[i]f you open your mouth, you’re gone.”

27

 ii.
162.

Dana Tomarken

In February 2019, Dana Tomarken, former Vice President of MusiCares (a not-

for-profit run by the Academy), alleged in a lawsuit against the Academy that she was terminated
because she blew the whistle on financial improprieties, and on the basis of her gender and age.
She also alleged that Mr. Portnow ran a “boys’ club.” Ms. Tomarken had been with MusiCares
for 25 years at the time she was fired.
163.

Ms. Tomarken alleged: “The so-called boys’ club was a group of men who were

deeply loyal to Mr. Portnow, regularly socialized with him, and served as go-tos for anything he
needed. Multiple women failed at breaking down the barriers to join this club.”
164.

Prior to filing suit, following her April 2018 dismissal, Ms. Tomarken wrote an

open letter to the Academy’s Board, in which she accused Mr. Portnow of steering money away
from MusiCares after the Academy was hit with unexpected costs due to its decision to hold the
2018 Grammy Awards at Madison Square Garden (“MSG”).
165.

Ms. Tomarken alleged that she was pressured to hold MusiCares’ annual gala, the

Person of the Year event, at Radio City Music Hall, which is operated by MSG. As a result of
the higher costs associated from holding the event at Radio City Music Hall (and not at Barclay’s
Center as originally planned), the event raised only $1mm — down from $5mm in previous
years.
166.

Ms. Tomarken also accused Mr. Portnow of blocking her efforts to brief the

Board on the matter. Around this time, Ms. Tomarken alleged that she was confronted with
allegations that she had used an unsold $2,500 hotel certificate from a MusiCares auction to go
to Portugal, though, she claimed, she tried to pay for the item as soon as she was reminded of it.

28

 167.

Ms. Tomarken alleged that the suspect “investigation” of the Portugal hotel

voucher was used as a pretext to fire her.
168.

Ms. Tomarken also claimed that she was terminated “after a painful year of trying

to protect MusiCares from being exploited, enduring ongoing instances of workplace abuse and
harassment” from two male coworkers, one of who allegedly harassed her at the behest of Mr.
Portnow.
169.

Ms. Tomarken also alleged that she, like other women at the Academy, were held

out of top leadership roles, and that she was repeatedly denied promotions.
iii.
170.

Former Head of Communications

The former female Head of Communications left the Academy after she was

sidelined by Mr. Portnow in the wake of his “step up” comments. The crisis management team
that the Academy put together to deal with the public relations relating to the “step up”
comments was entirely male.
iv.
171.

Race Discrimination
In addition to gender discrimination, the Academy also has a history of engaging

in blatant race discrimination.
172.

By way of example only, one Black woman who worked for the Academy’s

museum was immediately fired after she began to raise concerns about diversity at the Academy.
173.

As another example, a gay Black temp suffered egregious discrimination to the

point that he had a mental breakdown after colleagues hung a demeaning picture depicting him
as a caricature with huge exaggerated lips.
174.

The picture hung for months and was even brought to the Staples Center when the

Academy employees were setting up the set for the Grammys.

29

 175.

While the person who hung the photograph was eventually terminated, none of

the employees who enabled this conduct and failed to report it were disciplined in any manner.
VIII.

MS. DUGAN ENGAGES IN FURTHER PROTECTED ACTIVITY AND
SUFFERS ADDITIONAL RETALIATION
176.

On December 22, 2019, Ms. Dugan sent an email to Shonda Grant, Managing

Director, People and Culture (HR) at the Academy.
177.

Ms. Dugan’s email (attached as Exhibit A) raised various concerns about the

“boys’ club” culture at the Academy.
178.

Indeed, the end of her email reads:
Let me close with a simple observation. In my efforts to successfully
resolve the many outstanding lawsuits facing the Academy that I
inherited, one of the claimants characterized her experience of our
organization’s leadership as “…it’s a boy’s club and they put their
financial interest above the mission….” At the time, I didn’t want to
believe it, but now after 5 months of being exposed to the behavior
and circumstances outlined here, I have come to suspect she is right.

179.

In support of this conclusion, in Ms. Dugan’s December 22, 2019 email she

complained about, inter alia, the following issues:
•

The fact that she was sexually harassed by Ms. Katz.

•

The fact that the Academy requested that Ms. Dugan
approve a $750,000 consulting fee to be paid to her
predecessor, even though he left in disgrace and was accused
of raping an artist.

•

The inherent conflict of interest arising out of the fact that
the same attorneys that represent the Academy also represent
news outlets that profit off of the disclosure of the
Academy’s confidential information, as in the case of Ms.
Dugan’s hire, which was leaked to the press while the
information was still confidential. When Ms. Dugan
inquired as to how her name was leaked to the press, she was
told by senior members of the Academy’s management,
including the Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Mason, and other
Board members, that such leaks were commonplace because
the attorneys that represent the Academy also represent
30

 publications that expect to receive leaks of the Academy’s
confidential information.

180.

•

The inherent conflict of interest arising out of the fact that
the attorneys that represent the Academy (and make millions
of dollars doing so) also represent individual Board members
and members of the Board’s Executive Committee (the very
people who are approving the payment by the Academy of
millions of dollars to these attorneys).

•

The fact that the legal fees being paid to Greenberg Trauig
and other law firms, including Proskauer Rose, were plainly
exorbitant for a not-for-profit company the size of the
Academy.

•

The fact that the Executive Committee went behind Ms.
Dugan’s back and voted to increase the Academy’s
payments to outside attorneys despite the foregoing.

•

The fact that Board members have approved hundreds of
thousands of dollars in payments to themselves for work that
was either unnecessary or that was already being performed
by outside vendors; specifically, the Executive Committee
approved hefty payments to members of the Executive
Committee.

•

The conflict of interest arising out of the fact that the
Academy’s $90mm endowment was overseen by Mr.
Poppo’s brother (who received millions of dollars in fees)
while he was Chair of the Board.

•

The fact that the Board is intimately involved in the Grammy
voting and awards process.

To be clear, all of the issues about which Ms. Dugan complained are all relevant

to and helped to form her belief that the Academy is, as Ms. Tomarken alleged, a “boys’ club.”
181.

Many of the issues also present violations of various laws and regulations, and, in

connection with those issues, Ms. Dugan also will be filing a whistleblower complaint in
connection with retaliation suffered for making these complaints.

31

 182.

Incidentally, at the same time that all of this was happening, the Board was

attempting to pressure Ms. Dugan into signing letters with representations that she believed to be
false, in order to provide the letters to Deloitte in connection with its audit of the Academy. Ms.
Dugan refused to look the other way and falsely confirm that the Academy was acting aboveboard when she knew that it was actually acting as a “boys’ club” where the conflicts of interest
and self-dealing were rampant.
IX.

MS. DUGAN RETAINS COUNSEL AND IS SUBJECTED TO FURTHER
THREATS AND IS ULTIMATELY REMOVED FROM HER POSITION
183.

On December 24, 2019, Ms. Dugan’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, Esq., put the

Academy on notice of her intention to pursue legal claims.
184.

Over the following weeks, Mr. Freedman and counsel for the Academy, Tony

Oncidi, Esq., with Proskauer Rose, attempted to work out a resolution of Ms. Dugan’s claims.
185.

In fact, the parties were relatively close in negotiations and had nearly arrived at

an agreement in principle.
186.

However, the Academy ultimately backed out of the deal. Mr. Mason then

presented a new unfavorable deal to Ms. Dugan, and demanded that she accept within the hour.
187.

Ms. Dugan did not accept the Board’s revised settlement proposal and,

immediately after the time to accept expired, the Board made the blatantly retaliatory decision to
put Ms. Dugan on administrative leave.
188.

In the email notifying Ms. Dugan that she was being put on leave, Mr. Mason

stated that the Academy could no longer “trust” her to keep confidential information
confidential. This was a transparent reference to Ms. Dugan’s stated intention to bring claims
against the Academy. Put another way, the Board put Ms. Dugan on administrative leave
because she threatened to bring legal action.

32

 189.

In the same email, Mr. Mason threatened Ms. Dugan with a termination for cause

in the event that she disclosed any confidential information. Again, this was a clear reference to
the facts underlying her claims. Put another way, the Academy threatened to fire Ms. Dugan in
the event that she chose to pursue her legitimate claims of discrimination and whistleblower
retaliation.
190.

Ironically, it would be the Academy, and not Ms. Dugan, that would ultimately

leak damaging information to the press.
X.

THE ACADEMY SEEKS TO DESTROY MS. DUGAN’S REPUTATION BY
LEAKING FALSE INFORMATION TO THE PRESS
191.

In the email notifying Ms. Dugan that she was being put on leave, Mr. Mason

wrote, “the Recording Academy does not intend to provide any statement or comment regarding
the status of your employment or leave of absence other than, if asked, to say that you have taken
a leave of absence and/or that the Recording Academy will follow its usual policy of refusing to
comment on private, personnel-related matters and issues.”
192.

Despite this assurance, the Board immediately leaked to the press that Ms. Dugan

had been “placed” on administrative leave “in light of concerns raised to the Recording Academy
board of trustees, including a formal allegation of misconduct by a senior female member of the
Recording Academy team.” The Board also leaked that there were two investigation launched. 6
The news reported that Ms. Dugan had been “ousted” under the suspicion of misconduct, which
of course was the Executive Committee’s intent.
193.

This explanation was completely false and defamatory.

6

The “investigators” were chosen by Proskauer Rose, which is a huge conflict of interest.
Moreover, one investigation that apparently was not launched is one into who among the
members of the Board or their law firms is leaking the parties’ settlement communications.
33

 194.

Ms. Little’s purported concerns were absolutely not the reason that Ms. Dugan

was put on leave.
195.

To begin, the concerns had been raised well more than a month prior to Ms.

Dugan being put on leave. Yet, she was not put on leave when the allegations were first raised,
nor was she put on leave after the Academy’s receipt of a demand letter from Ms. Little’s
lawyer.
196.

Instead, Ms. Dugan was only put on leave after raising complaints about sexual

harassment and other improprieties, indicating her intent to commence legal action and refusing
to settle her claims on terms dictated by the Academy.
197.

Moreover, the Board knows very well that the complaints raised by Ms. Little are

completely without merit. And, even if the Board genuinely believed that the complaints had
merit, they are not the sort of the nature that would ever result in a CEO being put on
administrative leave.
198.

In sum, Ms. Dugan was accused of acting in a hostile manner towards an

Executive Assistant. By comparison, the Board wanted to hire Mr. Portnow as a consultant for
the hefty price of $750,000 after he was accused of raping a woman and making misogynistic
comments. Thus, even if Ms. Dugan was put on leave in connection with Ms. Little’s claims
(and she was not), such decision would simply further highlight the Academy’s discriminatory
decision making.
199.

Finally, if anyone violated Academy policies with respect to confidentiality it was

Ms. Little. Indeed, Ms. Little was constantly accessing Ms. Dugan’s work email, and attempting
to access her personal email, while she was on administrative leave and purportedly unable to
work. Ms. Little was not disciplined in any way for this conduct, and yet Ms. Dugan was

34

 threatened with termination in the event that she discloses any “confidential information;” i.e.,
information that supports her legal claims.
XI.

VARIOUS CELEBRITIES COME TO MS. DUGAN’S DEFENSE
200.

After news of Ms. Dugan’s leave was leaked, various celebrities came to her

defense, including, among others, Chuck D of Public Enemy, Gabrielle Union, Sheryl Crow and
Megyn Kelly.
201.

Chuck D issued a statement that reads, inter alia, “I salute Deborah Dugan for her

truth and courage to try and effect change. As always, a bunch of ignorant, testosterone-fueled,
usually old white men stop progress and screw it up. Same old bullshit.”
202.

Gabrielle Union issued a statement that reads, inter alia, “Coulda sworn this is the

same board that told women to ‘step up’ Clearly what they really meant was stand down, turn a
blind eye to problems, or be fired. #DeborahDugan truly stepped up & tried to make necessary
changes & was shown the door.”
203.

Sheryl Crow issued a statement that reads, inter alia, “What in the world!?! Deb

Dugan is a fantastic and brilliant woman.”
204.

Megyn Kelly issued a statement that reads, inter alia, “What did Grammys CEO

Deborah Dugan report to HR re the Grammys that got her fired? Why is a PUBLIC, non profit
allowed to muzzle execs who file HR complaints? What’s in her complaint? The public deserves
to know.”
XII.

MR. MASON ISSUES A FALSE, RETALIATORY AND DEFAMATORY
STATEMENT ABOUT MS. DUGAN
205.

On January 20, 2020, with the knowledge that Ms. Dugan was about to file this

Charge, Mr. Mason penned and published (and leaked to the press) a false, retaliatory and

35

 defamatory letter designed to “get out in front” of the Charge and further destroy Ms. Dugan’s
reputation.
206.

The January 20, 2020 letter essentially accuses Ms. Dugan of manufacturing legal

claims after being put on notice of Ms. Little’s claims. As described herein, that is simply not
true.
207.

The damage that the Academy has done to Ms. Dugan is immeasurable and can

never be remedied.
208.

The damage also is continuing in nature. Mr. Mason is currently on a mission to

further destroy Ms. Dugan and has been calling prominent recording artists non-stop to disparage
and defame Ms. Dugan.
209.

The transparently retaliatory nature of the Academy’s conduct, however, is not

lost on everyone. Upon the release of Mr. Mason’s January 20, 2020 letter, respected American
music analyst and critic, Bob Lefsetz, penned the following letter to an attorney at Greenberg
Traurig, Mr. Katz’s law firm:
This is how you pour gasoline on a fire.
Let’s see, published so far are the Grammy payments to law firms.
Joel Katz’s firm, Greenberg Traurig, renegotiated the $20 million a
year deal with CBS for the telecast. Good work! Until you find out
the firm was paid $6,309,936 that year, 2016. The firm was paid
$1,758,388 in 2017, the last year for which figures are available.
And Greenberg Traurig was paid $1,167,029 in 2015. What were all
these fees for? Negotiating employment agreements, dealing with
internal lawsuits? I mean, paying top buck when your budget is only
so big…who is making these decisions, didn’t anybody think about
hiring inside counsel?
That’s right, Deborah Dugan.
But it wasn’t only Greenberg Traurig. Proskauer Rose made
$906,691 in 2017, and that year, in addition to the Greenberg and
Proskauer fees, there was another $3,737,400 paid out in legal fees!

36

 So, in 2017, the Grammy organization paid over $6 million in legal
fees, who do they think they are, Boeing?
But it gets worse. The Grammys are all about the awards. Who does
the nominating?
Well, it turns out it’s a coterie of supposed experts. It’d be like a
bunch of directors from the sixties deciding who should be
nominated for Oscars. Actually, that might be better than what
we’ve got, but the truth is it’s undemocratic, and there would be no
transparency, the way the music business has liked it since its
inception… Come on, can you say “royalties”? But no, the
Grammys are run just like the business, opaque.
So Harvey Mason, Jr. tells us Dugan’s attorney offered to drop the
claims, have Deborah Dugan pack up her bags and go home, in
exchange for millions. Are we supposed to be offended by that?
Does Mason think we’re ignorant musicians who don’t understand
how the world works?
Dugan signed a contract, lengthy according to her attorney, and I’m
sure it includes a provision whereupon the Grammys can fire Dugan
for behavior beyond the pale. I’m sure there are even examples in
said contract. And when you fire someone for cause, they get
bupkes, i.e. nothing. So Dugan takes the gig, gives up a solid gig
with Red, moves across the country, gets involved in this imbroglio
and is willing to walk away with nothing, stab herself in the heart
for the good of the Academy? Give me a break, take a look at
Muilenberg’s golden parachute. Furthermore, an attorney is an
advocate, a representative, their goal is to negotiate, to get you the
best deal they can. Isn’t that what Harvey Mason, Jr. wants
Greenberg Traurig to do, as he is a personal client of the firm?
Speaking of conflicts of interest…
As for the dueling investigations… Does anybody trust these
anymore? It’s like hiring McKinsey, so you can blame the
consultant when things go haywire. And how much are these
investigations gonna cost? Quite possibly more than it would to pay
Ms. Dugan to go home for good!
And the leaks just keep on coming.
Dugan didn’t get along, she didn’t play the game.

37

 But she thought she was hired to clean up the mess. Come on, do
you think Neil Portnow was gonna do this, the man who couldn’t
even make nice over criticism of the lack of women being nominated
and winning Grammys? Sure, maybe he misspoke, telling women to
“step up,” but why wasn’t he conciliatory to begin with, why even
go on the offensive?
Then Mason goes on to defend the Trustees. They work for free,
yippee!
Yeah, for free at those meetings in Hawaii.
Mason is as stupid as Portnow when it comes to defending himself.
As for leaks… That’s how the world works these days. Hell, we
have a President of the United States being impeached and there’s
been one leak after another, because that’s how you get the truth out!
Expect more leaks in this case.
As for the Gammy whistleblower, whose name has been leaked, i.e.
Claudine Little, who claims the environment she worked in was
“toxic and intolerable” and “abusive and bullying”…just ask Amy
Klobuchar’s assistants, Klobuchar’s bad behavior has been welldocumented and the “New York Times” just endorsed her for the
Democratic nomination for President!
And people are always stunned how business works. This is the
territory, and it’s not only men, but women too. And it’s a fastmoving world of big egos and why in the hell does the unverified
statement of one employee put the head of the whole organization
on leave?
I’ll tell you, Mason was inundated with input from other employees
and he’s unsophisticated in these matters, never mind aligned with
the usual suspects wanting business as usual.
Now if you follow business, boards are responsible for the behavior
of the company, for the actions taken. And if Mason is so right, how
come we aren’t hearing from the rest of those Trustees, i.e. board
members, regarding what they think? Oh, they’re sucking at the tit
and they don’t want to give up those perks while working for “free.”
Which is why companies try to exclude board members who are
doing it for the money, that clouds your opinion.
So a kerfuffle has turned into a conflagration.

38

 And let’s take the worst case scenario, Dugan yelled at Little.
There’s no allegation Dugan hit her. There’s no allegation that
Dugan fired her. Is this a reason to blow up the Grammys just before
the telecast, when everybody is paying attention, which they only do
once a year?
Now I don’t know what really happened.
But I know more than I did Thursday night.
And as the days go on, I’ll gain even more knowledge.
As for those vaunted Trustees, is any of them of the caliber of Chuck
D, who defended Ms. Dugan, who has a reputation for telling the
truth, speaking his mind?
So they tried to clean up the Grammys, run it legitimately, they even
formed a task force to find the best candidate, who turned out to be
a woman with experience in the field, and with celebrity musicians.
And I wonder how much that process cost. And now Dugan is trying
to institute change and it’s her fault? And alleged behavior trumps
ideas?
If Mason was a leader, he’d accept responsibility and take prompt
action. But he won’t, he’s a typical two-faced musician, making nice
to your face and then stabbing you in the back thereafter.
Oh, don’t argue. Come on, you know how it works, in order to work
a musician has to be nice to everybody, that’s how you make it. It’s
only when you get to the top that you can do things your way. And
even if you do, the label might take it out on you…remember George
Michael with Sony or Neil Young with Geffen?
Institutions need to be challenged on a regular basis. To stand still
is to die. This is how the labels almost lost complete control of
recordings with the advent of Napster. And the truth is today they
do not have the control they once did, and never will again. What
happens when CBS no longer wants to pay $20 million a year for
the telecast? What’s the plan then? Oh, you know it’s coming.
Yes, the artist has gained traction in the internet era. And Dugan was
trying to take the focus off the lifers populating the labels and the
Grammy organization and she’s the one paying the price.
Only in Hollywood.

39

 Exhibit A

From: Shonda Grant <Shonda.Grant@recordingacademy.com> 
Date: December 24, 2019 at 9:50:01 AM PST 
To: Deborah Dugan <Deborah.Dugan@recordingacademy.com> 
Subject: Re: concerns 
  
Deborah ‐ I've read through your memo a few times now, and bottomline ‐ these are 
serious issues that need to be investigated.  
It's important to me, in my role, that I handle these matters with the care, attention, 
and sensitivity that they deserve and require...both for your sake and the sake of the 
Academy. Therefore, unless you've already done so, I'd like to forward your memo to 
Tony for his advisement, particularly since these concerns involve the EC. 
Your conclusion that it is necessary to make these concerns known is an accurate one 
and one that cannot be ignored.  
1

 Please let me know if you'd like to discuss.  
Best,  
Shonda  
 
From: Deborah Dugan <Deborah.Dugan@recordingacademy.com> 
Sent: Monday, December 23, 2019 5:30:44 PM 
To: Shonda Grant <Shonda.Grant@recordingacademy.com> 
Subject: FW: concerns  
 
 
To: Shonda Grant 
Managing Director, People and Culture (Human Resources) 
From: Deborah Dugan 
CEO & President of the Recording Academy 
December 22, 2019  
 
 
I am writing this email to briefly outline for you in your capacity as the senior most Human 
Resources executive some serious concerns that I have had since joining the Recording 
Academy. To date, I have sought to manage these concerns to the benefit of the Academy, 
but recent events have led me to conclude that making them known is necessary. Doing 
so does not come easily. I am deeply committed to the success and healthy growth of this 
non‐profit. Yet, encouraging candor from others when they witness troubling or alarming 
behavior requires the same from me – especially as the CEO. 
I am writing this note not for you to take any action at this time, but to have on record 
that the following events occurred, and that these events have given me serious pause 
for concern and in some instances made me feel uncomfortable and unsafe.  
 
An initial insight that I needed to be concerned occurred prior to starting my job at the 
Academy.  When  the  Board  voted  to  have  me  be  CEO,  the  Executive  Committee  was 
tasked, under great confidentiality, to negotiate a contract with me. Somehow, that I was 
to be the next CEO of the Academy was leaked to the press which wreaked havoc in my 
life as I had not informed my children, my current employer/ team or my many media 
industry  partners.  I  was  told  at  the  time  that  only  the  Executive  Committee  and  the 
company’s  lawyers  knew  of  my  selection.  When  I  inquired  as  to  how  my  name  was 
“leaked” to the press, I was told members of the senior Academy management that such 
leaks were typical behavior since our lawyers not only represent the Recording Academy, 
but  also  represent  industry  publications  who  expect  such  inside  information.  I  also 
learned at that time that the Academy lawyers also represent many of its Board members, 
and members of the Executive Committee in particular. Before I was even hired, I became 
concerned about such flagrant conflicts of interest.  
 
Furthermore, prior to my hiring, I was asked to come as a guest to the Board of Trustees 
meeting in May, 2019, in Laguna Beach. Joel Katz, Esq. contacted me ahead of time and 
asked that I have dinner with him alone the night before the meetings began. He selected 
an  expensive  restaurant  and  I  was  taken  aback  when  he  ordered  an  outlandishly 
expensive bottle of wine. I was made uneasy by the many times he commented on my 
appearance and said how pretty I was. He repeatedly called me “Baby”. Needless to say, 
I found his behavior disconcerting and utterly inappropriate.  
 
2

 Over the course of the evening, Mr. Katz explained to me that he was very very rich and 
had many houses, one in Bermuda and other locations. And he reminded me that he had 
a private plane and informed me that he was lonely and had no one to spend time with. 
He  suggested  that  spending  time  together,  traveling  to  his  many  homes  could  be 
something nice for us to share. He talked about his marriage that had failed. I listened 
politely but made it clear I was not interested in his advances. At the conclusion of dinner, 
he leaned forward, lips pursed, as to kiss me. I quickly turned and made my way out of 
the restaurant.  
 
Mr. Katz’s comments about my looks and suggestive remarks have continued unabated 
since our first meeting at the restaurant in May.  
 
In  the  course  of  that  meal,  I  relayed  to  Mr.  Katz  that  I  had  reviewed  the  Academy’s 
finances and found that his and other legal bills for a not‐for‐profit of this size seemed 
exorbitant. I questioned why there was no in‐house lawyer as is customary. I relayed that 
having an in‐house attorney made sense to me and was something I wanted to explore 
once I started. He agreed with me on my assessment.  
 
These  disconcerting  dynamics  gave  me  a  sense  even  before  I  was  formally  hired,  that 
something was seriously amiss at the Academy and sure enough in my past 5 months of 
employment my instincts have proven accurate indeed. Here are a few examples:  
 
 The  conflicts  of  interest  on  the  Executive  Committee  are  beginning  to  appear 
egregious. For example, I made it plain to the Executive Committee that lowering 
the  millions  of  dollars  of  legal  fees  was  a  priority  for  the  Academy  in  2020. 
However, despite my expressed concerns, during the November board meeting, 
after  I  was  abruptly  asked  to  leave  an  Executive  Committee  meeting,  the 
Executive  Committee  voted  to  raise  legal  fees.  The  Executive  Committee 
members were well aware of my and the CFO’s concerns about the exorbitant 
and unnecessary fees but decided to raise those fees even further. The fact that 
counsel  who  are  receiving  these  unwarranted  pay  increases  also  privately 
represent those who are approving those increases over the objection of the CEO 
and CFO indicates serious fiduciary irresponsibility.  
 I  have  also  discovered  that  board  members  have  approved  payments  to 
themselves in the amount of hundreds of thousands of dollars to oversee aspects 
of  the  Academy  and  Grammy  events  that  do  not  need  their  oversight.  For 
example,  an  Executive  Committee  member  receives  $100,000  for  Grammy 
services provided by an outside production company.  
 Furthermore,  I  discovered  that  the  prior  Board  chair’s  John  Popo’s  brother 
manages  the  Academy’s  $90  million  endowment.  I  have  expressed  concerns 
about this conflict of interest and intended to formally address the issue in 2020.  
 The Trustees are also intimately involved in the Grammy Voting and Awards 
process. There are irregularities and conflicts with the current Nomination 
Review process that must be addressed. I have shared this concern with the 
Executive Committee. 
 Last, I was asked to please grant my predecessor, Neil Portnow, with a $750,000 
consulting fee. I denied this. I was not told at the time that there was a sexual 
harassment claim made against Neil. The Executive Committee knew about this 
claim, but did not share the risk to the Academy with the Board.  
 
 
 
3

 Finally, let me address the prevailing issue with Claudine Little. As you are aware, you and 
I with  help from outside  counsel have  worked together to manage Claudine’s leave of 
absence.  And  as  you  will  recall,  we  agreed  that  we  wanted  Claudine  to  continue 
contributing to the Academy, albeit in a different role than Director of Administration, 
possibly  as  Assistant  to  the  new  Executive  Director  of  MusiCares  or  Director  of  Board 
Relations  under  soon  to  be  hired  SVP  of  Communications.  However,  these  plans  have 
been put on hold given her leave of absence and you were attempting to communicate 
with Claudine about what options she would like to pursue.  
 
What we didn’t know until recently is that members of the Executive Committee were in 
direct communications with Claudine apparently offering her guidance and support and 
fostering an atmosphere that has invited the recent baseless legal action. We also didn’t 
know that the claim letter sent by Claudine’s lawyer was not forwarded to either of us 
immediately but was only brought to our attention when we learned of the action from a 
third party. Furthermore, what we also didn’t know was that Claudine and possibly her 
legal  counsel  were  given  access  to  the  Academy’s  computer  system  and  have  been 
illegally reading confidential correspondence from my and your offices.  
 
The issue that is of concern here is the unusual active and sustained interest the 
Executive Committee has taken in what amounts to a routine Human Resource issue – 
the simple redeployment of an executive assistant. There appears to be a manufactured 
crisis shaped by the Executive Committee’s unseen contacts with Claudine. While you 
were managing this routine – and admittedly sensitive – personnel matter, the 
Executive Committee was apparently encouraging ‐ and possibly orchestrating 
circumstances – to my and potentially the Academy’s disadvantage. The fact that the 
Executive Committee has chosen to manufacture this crisis to my distinct disadvantage 
raises some serious questions of their creating a hostile and retaliatory work 
environment in order to derail my efforts at addressing serious fiduciary irregularities 
and concerning conflicts of interest.  
 
Let me close with a simple observation. In my efforts to successfully resolve the many 
outstanding  lawsuits  facing  the  Academy  that  I  inherited,  one  of  the  claimants 
characterized her experience of our organization’s leadership as “…it’s a boy’s club and 
they put their financial interest above the mission….” At the time, I didn’t want to believe 
it, but now after 5 months of being exposed to the behavior and circumstances outlined 
here, I have come to suspect she is right.  
 
 
 

4

 AGENCY

CHARGE OF DISCRIMINATION
This form is affected by the Privacy Act of 1974; see Privacy Act Statement on reverse before completing this form.

CHARGE NUMBER

FEPA
EEOC

California Department of Fair Employment and Housing

and EEOC

(State or Local Agency, If Any)
NAME (Indicate Mr., Ms.., or Mrs.)

HOME TELEPHONE NUMBER (include Area Code)

Ms. Deborah Dugan

(212) 257-6800

STREET ADDRESS

DATE OF BIRTH

CITY, STATE AND ZIP CODE

c/o Michael J. Willemin, Wigdor LLP, 85 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10003

NAMED IS THE EMPLOYER, LABOR ORGANIZATION, EMPLOYMENT AGENCY, APPRENTICESHIP COMMITTEE, STATE OR LOCAL
GOVERNMENT AGENCY WHO DISCRIMINATED AGAINST ME (If more than one list below).
NAME

NO. OF EMPLOYEES/MEMBERS

110

TELEPHONE NUMBER (include Area Code)

(310) 392-3777

STREET ADDRESS

CITY, STATE AND ZIP CODE

3030 Olympic Blvd

COUNTY

Santa Monica, CA 90404

NAME

NO. OF EMPLOYEES/MEMBERS

STREET ADDRESS

Los Angeles

TELEPHONE NUMBER (include Area Code)

CITY, STATE AND ZIP CODE

CAUSE OF DISCRIMINATION BASED ON (Check appropriate box(es))

DATE DISCRIMINATION TOOK PLACE
EARLIEST

RACE

COLOR
RETALIATION

SEX
AGE

RELIGION
DISABILITY

LATEST

NATIONAL
OTHER
CONTINUING ACTION

THE PARTICULARS ARE

(If additional space is needed, attached extra sheet(s))

SEE ATTACHED SUPPLEMENT.

I want this charge filed with the EEOC and the State FEPA. I will
advise the agencies if I change my address or telephone number
and I will cooperate fully with them in the processing of my charge in
accordance with their procedures.
I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.

I swear or affirm that I have read the above charge and that it is true to the
best of my knowledge, information and belief.
SIGNATURE OF COMPLAINANT

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO BEFORE ME THIS DATE:
(Month, day and year)
Date

Charging Party (Signature)

 AFFIRMATION OF SERVICE
I, Jeanne M. Christensen, an attorney admitted to practice in the State of New York, and a
partner at Wigdor LLP, hereby affirms that on January 21, 2020, I served via overnight Federal
Express, true and correct copies of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Charge
Form and Supplemental Statement (“Charge”) for Deborah Dugan as against the National
Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (“EEOC”), located at 255 East Temple St., 4th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90012. I
also emailed the Charge to the supervisor of intakes at the EEOC’s Los Angeles office.

______________________________________

Jeanne M. Christensen