Woman Alleges Getty Foundation Internship Only Open to Non-White Applicants

A woman filed a discrimination lawsuit against the Getty Foundation alleging she was denied an undergraduate internship with the institution because she is white.

In the lawsuit filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Samantha Niemann accused Getty of violating her civil rights, racial discrimination and harassment, as well as retaliation. She seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

According to the suit, Niemann “was deterred from applying” for the foundation’s Multicultural Undergraduate Internship program in February 2015 after being told only black, Asian, Latino, Native-American and Pacific Islander candidates were eligible.