Cooper v. Mass Appeal

Case 1:23-cv-09115 Document 1 Filed 10/17/23 Page 1 of 33
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
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MELISSA COOPER, :
:
Plaintiff, :
:
-against- : COMPLAINT
:
MASS APPEAL MEDIA INC., PETER :
BITTENBENDER, and JENYA MEGGS, :
:
Defendant. :
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Plaintiff Melissa Cooper (“Plaintiff” or “Cooper”), by her attorneys Pechman Law
Group PLLC, complaining of unlawful discrimination by Defendants Mass Appeal
Media Inc. (“Mass Appeal”), Peter Bittenbender (“Bittenbender”), and Jenya Meggs
(“Meggs”) (collectively, “Defendants”), alleges:
NATURE OF THE ACTION
1. For over two decades, Melissa Cooper has worked and built her career in
the entertainment industry, with the last fifteen of those years spent developing and
selling content that focused primarily on Black culture. Although White, Cooper has
always been a proponent of telling stories and shedding light on underrepresented
communities, and by doing so has established an excellent reputation among her
colleagues from every background.
2. Despite being successful in her role as Head of Development at Mass
Appeal, Cooper nonetheless was the target of a racist conspiracy orchestrated by Jenya
Meggs to damage Cooper’s reputation and trigger Cooper’s termination from Mass
Appeal. Meggs and her cohorts made venomous and racist comments about “White folk”
and “crackers,” and bragged that they caused Cooper to shed “White tears.” By virtue
of disclosures by Megg’s former romantic partner, Michael Harris, Cooper discovered the
severity and depth of the racism at Mass Appeal and confirmation that she was targeted
for termination simply because she was White.
3. When Peter Bittenbender, in his capacity as Mass Appeal’s chief executive
officer, was informed of Meggs’ blatant racial animosity towards Cooper through the
dossier of text messages Cooper provided, which detailed Meggs’ concerted efforts to
harm Cooper on the basis of her race, he responded by callously telling Cooper “I am
sorry you had to read this but this isn’t illegal.” Bittenbender and Mass Appeal
conducted no investigation into Cooper’s claims of racial discrimination. Instead,
Bittenbender and Mass Appeal terminated Cooper on June 30, 2023 while continuing to
employ Meggs.
4. Cooper brings this action seeking declaratory and injunctive relief,
reinstatement, and monetary damages to redress Defendants’ unlawful discrimination
against her on the basis of her race and/or skin color, in violation of Section 1981 of the
Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. § 1981 et seq. (“Section 1981”), the New York State
Human Rights Law, N.Y. Exec. Law § 290 et seq. (“NYSHRL”) and the New York City
Human Rights Law, N.Y. City Administrative Code § 8-101 et seq. (“NYCHRL”).
JURISDICTION
5. This Court has subject matter jurisdiction over this case pursuant to 28
U.S.C. § 1331 because this is a civil action arising under Section 1981. This Court has
supplemental jurisdiction over Plaintiff’s NYSHRL and NYCHRL claims pursuant to 28
U.S.C. § 1367.
VENUE
6. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391, venue is proper in the Southern District of
New York because a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to this action
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occurred in this District.
NOTICE
7. Within ten days of the filing of this Complaint, Plaintiff will serve a copy
of the Complaint on the New York City Commission on Human Rights and the New York
City Corporation Counsel, thereby satisfying the notice requirements of N.Y.C. Admin.
Code § 8-502.
THE PARTIES
Plaintiff Melissa Cooper
8. Cooper resides and is domiciled in New York County, New York and is a
citizen of New York.
9. Cooper was employed by Mass Appeal as a Development Consultant in its
New York City Office from April 2021 to October 2022 and as Head of Development from
October 2022 to June 30, 2023.
Defendant Mass Appeal Media Inc.
10. Mass Appeal Media Inc. is a Delaware limited liability company with its
principal place of business and headquarters located at 381 Broadway, New York, New
York 10013.
11. Mass Appeal is an entertainment company dedicated to telling stories from
the perspective of those who shape and shift culture. Founded in 1996, Mass Appeal has
grown to provide “the elevated voice of Hip Hop” and has integrated offerings in
content, music, and creative services. More specifically, Mass Appeal now encompasses
a magazine, website, film and television production, music label, and creative agency.
The company is also known for one of its famous owners, Hip Hop artist Nasir bin Olu
Dara Jones, known by his stage name “Nas.”
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Defendant Peter Bittenbender
12. Defendant Peter Bittenbender resides and is domiciled in New York
County, New York.
13. Bittenbender is Chief Executive Officer at Mass Appeal and one of Mass
Appeal’s owners.
Defendant Jenya Meggs
14. Defendant Jenya Meggs resides and is domiciled in Los Angeles County,
California.
15. Meggs is Senior Vice President for Partnerships & Content Acquisition at
Mass Appeal.
FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS
Cooper’s Professional Background and Position at Mass Appeal
16. Cooper, a White female, was employed by Mass Appeal from April 2021 to
June 30, 2023. From April 2021 to October 2022, Cooper served as a Development
Consultant for Mass Appeal. She was promoted to the Head of Development in October
2022.
17. Prior to joining Mass Appeal, Cooper had over nineteen years of experience
in television and entertainment, with a specific focus on Hip Hop centered programming.
18. Following her graduation from New York University where she received a
Bachelor of Arts degree in creative writing, Cooper worked as an assistant for the Los
Angeles literary and talent management company Handprint Entertainment, best known
for producing The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
19. Following her time with Handprint, Cooper moved on to Vision Art
Management, a literary agency known for packaging shows like Will and Grace and Weeds.
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20. At Vision Art Management, Cooper acted as an assistant to Scott Schwartz
and was later promoted to a junior agent.
21. In 2011, Cooper made the decision to return to New York and accepted a
position as Michael Hirschorn’s assistant at his then newly founded company, Ish
Entertainment (“Ish”). Ish promoted Cooper to a joint role as Head of Talent and Senior
Vice President of Development in 2015.
22. At Ish, Cooper was responsible for creating, developing, and packaging
television shows, both scripted and unscripted, and documentaries that would be pitched
to content distributors for production.
23. During her tenure at Ish, Cooper was involved in the packaging and selling
of over fifteen different projects to media distributors, including SAG Harbor to the OWN
network, Styled by June to the VH1 network, Laurieann Gibson: Beyond the Spotlight to the
Lifetime network, African America to Hulu, Money & Violence to Lionsgate and the Starz
network, Kosher Soul to the Lifetime network, and Vow or Never: Jim Jones and Chrissy to
the WeTV Network.
24. In April 2021, Mass Appeal hired Cooper as a Development Consultant
following her referral by Mass Appeal’s then Chief Creative Officer, Sacha Jenkins, a
Black male.
25. Mass Appeal hired Cooper to help identify, develop, and pitch
programming projects to content distributors.
26. After her promotion to Head of Development in October 2022, Cooper took
on a greater role in the development and creation of content, including identifying and
recruiting talent, developing and maintaining relationships with directors and producers,
overseeing pitch materials for the development team, and generally assisting Mass
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Appeal in the selling of programming to television networks, studios, and streaming
platforms.
Jenya Meggs and Mass Appeal
27. Jenya Meggs, a Black female, is Mass Appeal’s Senior Vice President
(“SVP”) for Partnerships & Content Acquisition and is responsible for spearheading
programming strategies and partnerships for Mass Appeal.
28. Meggs’ role as an SVP for Mass Appeal gave her significant influence over
the company’s hiring and employment practices.
29. For example, Meggs referred her friend, Dr. Tana Session, for a Human
Resources position with Mass Appeal and heavily influenced Mass Appeal’s decision to
hire her. Session is a Black female.
Meggs’ Hostility to Cooper
30. On or about December 2021, Bittenbender, a White male, instructed Cooper
and Phoenix Maulella, another White female, that Meggs needed to be on all initial
development video calls for upcoming projects.
31. Bittenbender explained that Mass Appeal was putting this directive in place
because Cooper and Maulella were White women and because Mass Appeal’s projects
were focused on the Black community. No other reason was provided for this directive.
32. In approximately July 2021, Cooper brought in and developed a
documentary at Mass Appeal, Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told (“Freaknik”).
Freaknik centers around the rise and fall of Freaknik, a spring break picnic, started by
students in Atlanta attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities (i.e. HBCU’s),
that grew into a cultural movement centered around Black music, Black joy, and Black
community that was eventually shut down by the City of Atlanta.
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33. In April 2022, Mass Appeal sold Freaknik to Hulu, with the project
becoming the company’s first documentary sold to the streaming service.
34. Cooper played a pivotal role in developing the project and the pitch for
Hulu and securing Hulu’s decision to buy the project.
35. Meggs was not involved in any aspect of the Freaknik project.
36. During the course of her employment with Mass Appeal, Cooper was
subject to hostility and adverse employment actions because of her race and skin color.
37. On August 14, 2022, Meggs texted with Terry Ross, an executive producer
on Freaknik and a Black male. Ross texted Meggs that he was not aware that Meggs was
at Mass Appeal, and that he had brought over Freaknik to Mass Appeal. Ross followed
up by stating that he does not like Cooper. Meggs responded that the “Feeling is mutual
about her,” referring to her own animosity towards Cooper. Meggs also stated that
Cooper does not like her either. Meggs then typed out, “I blame Alex for Freaknik.”
Meggs was referring to Alex Avant, an executive producer on Freaknik and a Black male
with whom Cooper has a long-standing professional relationship. Meggs was upset that
Avant had decided to pitch the Freaknik project to Cooper and not Meggs, since Avant
knew that Meggs was at Mass Appeal as well. Ross responded with surprise and said
that this was “terrible.” Meggs then texted that there were no hard feelings before
qualifying Cooper’s selection for the Freaknik project as “Usual white folk behavior.”
These messages are shown below:
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38. Days later, on August 16, 2022, Meggs and Ross texted about Cooper again,
this time about a dispute Cooper and Meggs had earlier that day. Specifically, Meggs
told Ross: “I just cussed Melissa [Cooper] out, She blatantly lied about a project to Peter
[Bittenbender]. This is why I say repeat everything you told Peter [Bittenbender].” Ross
responded to Meggs’ messages with “These Crackers are hilarious,” which Meggs
reacted to by emphasizing the message in support. These messages are shown below:
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39. Meggs’ racialized and disparaging messages to Ross about Cooper and
other White employees of Mass Appeal would continue throughout the Freaknik
documentary’s development.
40. For example, on September 20, 2022, Ross and Meggs again exchanged
racialized and hostile messages regarding White people in the Hip Hop industry.
Specifically, Meggs texted Ross complaining about Bittenbender’s decision not to hire a
candidate she had referred. Ross responded: “These white folk something else.” Meggs
responded by stating that “they,” referencing White employees like Cooper and
Bittenbender, were telling “inflammatory” stories about the Black community and that
they lacked knowledge about Hip Hop. Ross responded by saying that “they,” White
employees like Cooper and Bittenbender, “don’t know shit” and are “vultures.” Meggs
then switched topics and asked Ross if he had someone referred to as “Prince” call “the
white boy,” in reference to Bittenbender. These messages are shown below:
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41. On October 5, 2022, Meggs had another racialized exchange with Ross
while discussing Bittenbender’s decision on a Mass Appeal project. Specifically, Ross
texted about Bittenbender’s statement that “nobody cares” about prison reform, to which
Meggs responded with surprise that he said that to a Black man, in reference to Ross.
Ross corrected her, stating that Bittenbender didn’t directly say that nobody cared about
prison reform, but Meggs responded by stating that Bittenbender was “listening to your
girl Melissa [Cooper].” Meggs then said: “That hoe is blocking,” in reference to Cooper.
Later in the conversation, Meggs stated that “them,” referring to White employees like
Cooper and Bittenbender, were pushing a confused “white people agenda” and that it
was in “their” (i.e. White people) nature to hate, “Especially that woman” in reference to
Cooper. These messages are shown below:
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42. On November 2, 2022, Cooper, Meggs, and Jenkins attended a meeting with
two other Mass Appeal production employees, Peter Scalettar and Maulella. During the
meeting, a potential project focusing on a “townhall” style event exploring the
intersection between gun violence and Hip Hop was being discussed following the
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shooting death of rapper Takeoff from the group Migos. Following Cooper’s verbal
support for the idea and expressing her opinion on the subject, Meggs verbally berated
Cooper because Cooper “had no right to speak on it,” in reference to the nexus of gun
violence and Hip Hop.
43. Meggs informed Ross that she had gone to Human Resources following this
incident. Meggs also reached out to Daphne Pierre, Mass Appeal’s Head of Finance, to
inform her of the same incident. In her messages with Pierre, Meggs stated that she had
reported Cooper to Human Resources, to which Pierre responded in support and
reiterated that “we,” referencing Meggs and Pierre, had already “tapped in to Tana,” in
reference to Session, the Black woman and Human Resources professional that Meggs
referred and helped hire at Mass Appeal. During the remainder of the text conversation
with Pierre, Meggs accused Cooper of making inappropriate and “ignorant” comments
toward the Black community and complained that “Sacha,” in reference to Chief Creative
Officer Jenkins, was defending her and that the two were friends. Meggs continued with
“it stops now though” before noting that Session had set up a meeting between Cooper
and Meggs, referencing a workplace mediation between Meggs and Cooper where
Session was set to act as an “unbiased mediator.” These messages are shown below:
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44. The following day, November 3, 2022, Cooper also wrote to Session with an
incident report detailing Meggs’ verbal assault. This report stated:
Dear Dr. Session,
I hope all is well with you.
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We haven't met formally yet just on the company zoom

meetings, but I am reaching out as I would like to get on
record and hopefully discuss with you an incident that
happened on a phone call yesterday between myself and my
colleague, Jenya Meggs (Three other Mass Appeal colleagues
of ours were also on the call). I'm not sure how much detail I
should go into in an email, but the conversation was
supposed to be a brainstorm about what Mass Appeal could
do (is there a Town hall television special, etc..) to address the
pervasive gun violence that is happening, especially affecting
the Hip Hop community. As brainstorms go we started to
have disagreements on the approach which rabbit holed into
the topic of gun violence in Black communities. The
conversation then proceeded to get very tense, and I felt as if
I was personally being attacked by Jenya (other people on the
call were saying the same things as me, but I was the one she
went after). I will also say that on the call some of the others
even acknowledged that they didn't understand or feel what
Jenya was saying.
To be completely transparent there has been continual tension

between Jenya and I since I started working at Mass Appeal
in April 2021. I know there are three sides to every story, but
I can honestly say I have always been kind to her, as I don't
want to have conflict with someone I work with, and if we
disagree on something, which is usually about content
development / projects which is the department I work in, I
am usually the one that backs down. I am not sure why, but I
feel as if she always misconstrues what I am saying even
when I am actually agreeing with her. I have never attacked
her character the way she does mine and I can say the same
for what happened yesterday.
After we hung up the call yesterday, I was so upset that I had

to leave the office. This incident was definitely one that hit my
breaking point. I hope this email is sufficient enough to give
you an idea of the situation at hand.
I would love the opportunity to speak further on this matter

with you and hopefully you can guide us to a promising
resolution. I love working at Mass Appeal, the work we do,
the stories we tell, as well as the people who I get the privilege
to work with on a daily basis.
However, what happened yesterday and what Jenya threw at

me was so opposite of who I am as a human being that I
needed to address it. Please let me know when you are free.
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Thank you for your time.

Thank you kindly,
Melissa
45. On November 7, 2022, Session held a mediation call between Cooper and
Meggs, during which Cooper and Meggs both gave their version of events. During
Meggs’ version of events, Meggs told Cooper that Meggs “did not talk about your
people,” in reference to Cooper’s Jewish heritage. Meggs also stated that Cooper
“profited off of the demise of the Black community.”
46. On November 22, 2022, Meggs received a prayer over text from Pierre
asking that “the lord rebuke the white tears and gaslighting.” Meggs emphasized each
message of the prayer sent by Pierre, including the request pertaining to “white tears.”
She then responded with “DONE” and AMEN.” Upon information and belief, this was
in reference to Meggs’ ongoing hostility to Cooper. These messages are shown below:
47. On November 28, 2022, Cooper and Meggs participated in another
mediation call with Session, this time with Jenkins and Bittenbender in attendance.
Following this second call, Cooper and Meggs agreed to attempt to work amicably.
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48. On January 8, 2023, Meggs received a text message from Chaka Zulu stating
that press related to Freaknik “[had] some truth some falsehoods in here.” Meggs
responded, “Interesting” and “I’m sure the White Chick will regurgitate this as bible,”
presumably in reference to Cooper given her past animosity to her involvement on
Freaknik. The messages are included below:
49. Following the mediation calls, Cooper assisted Meggs with various
projects, including one about the life of Paul Mooney, a famous Black comedian. Cooper
wrote up most of the pitch deck, was heavily involved in the development and creative
planning, and recommended Robert Townsend, an acclaimed director, to lead the project.
Although Cooper had suggested the hiring of Townsend, Bittenbender assigned Meggs
to contact him, ignoring the fact that Cooper suggested hiring Townsend and that
packaging directors was a part of her role as Head of Development.
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50. On Friday, March 3, 2023, Scalettar and Cooper were editing the Paul
Mooney documentary deck to add in Robert Townsend’s information. Meggs then
informed them that they had to send the deck to William Morris Endeavor (“WME”),
Mass Appeal’s talent agents, that evening or they would risk losing Robert Townsend as
a director. Cooper and Scalettar accepted and informed Meggs of the planned changes
to the documentary deck via text and email before scrambling to incorporate the planned
edits with Scalettar. The pair finished the work and sent the deck off to WME.
51. Later that night, Meggs sent an irate text message to Cooper and Scaletter
chastising them as unprofessional because they did not send the deck with the new
changes to her before it was sent to WME.
52. The following Tuesday, March 7, 2023, Meggs texted Bittenbender to
complain that she would not deal “with this difficult team,” in reference to Cooper and
Scaletter. The messages are included below:
53. Later that same day, Cooper attempted to defuse the situation during a
development call with the team on the Paul Mooney project by apologizing to Meggs for
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not sending her the deck before sending it off to WME and insisting that it was not a sign
of disrespect. Meggs ignored Cooper’s efforts and instead yelled that Cooper “always
played the victim” and “had no respect for the opinion of a Black woman.” Despite
Cooper’s continued apologies and response that she was not intending to be
disrespectful, Meggs continued to yell accusations at Cooper in front of other Mass
Appeal employees.
54. Following this exchange, Cooper filed an incident report with Session about
what had occurred in the development meeting. The report stated:
Dear Dr. Sessions,

I hope all is well with you.
I am reaching out as Jenya and I had a bit of a blowout today
on a call and wanted you to be aware.
It involves a deck that was sent out to our agents in regards

to a project we are developing. Jenya felt disrespected that we
sent it out without her approval. This is actually a long story
and happy to hop on a call to discuss further. However, when
I told her there was no intention of disrespect (our other
colleague Peter Scalletar reiterated my sentiment) she was not
having it. After back and forth between the two of us (with
Peter Scalletar siding with me), where she also told me "I
always play the victim" she just hung up the call that
everyone was on as she refused to discuss the issue or allow
me to get a word in.
Before today, I thought Jenya and my relationship was doing

fine. We were working together, I was helping on her projects
and including her in mine... There have been no
mishaps...until today. However, I feel that whenever Jenya is
upset about something or I have a difference of opinion she
goes zero to sixty and it's her way or the highway. I feel that
is what happened today. And I will not be spoken to the way
she speaks to me when she is upset.
I wanted you to be aware of the situation and hoping you can

advise.
Thank you kindly,
Melissa
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55. On March 10, 2023, Cooper and Session met to discuss the incident. Session
told Cooper that she should not have said “I am sorry you felt that way” to Meggs,
placing the blame for the incident on Cooper. Session then told Cooper that she would
approach Meggs separately about the incident and give Cooper an update afterwards.
Session never gave Cooper an update.
56. On March 23, 2023, Meggs communicated to Session via text that she
refused to work with Cooper. In these messages, Meggs included a separate screenshot
of messages between her, Bittenbender, and Jenkins, informing them of Session’s
involvement and efforts towards “an official resolution” between Cooper and Meggs.
Meggs would later inform Bittenbender and Jenkins that she would not be working with
Cooper until a resolution was reached. The text messages are included below:
57. As a direct result of Meggs’ refusal to work with Cooper, Bittenbender
removed Cooper from a number of projects, including Mass Appeal’s Hip Hop 50 Live
concert at Yankee Stadium planned for August 11, 2023. Cooper’s removal from this
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important project, along with others Meggs was staffed on, effectively stripped Cooper
of her primary role at Mass Appeal.
58. On March 23, 2023, Meggs and Ross had another racially charged text
conversation discussing a separate project involving Anna, a White female, and Kedar, a
Black male. Meggs told Ross that Kedar stated he talked to Anna often, to which Ross
acted surprised because Kedar had previously told him that he did not like Anna, and
said Kedar was a “coon.” Ross spelled out the term “coon” by replacing each “o” with a
clown emoji. Meggs responded “I’m not about to get into anything about or over a” and
then included an emoji for a White, blonde woman. She followed up this message with
an emoji for a Black woman followed by “Wakanda forever.” These text messages are
included below:
59. On April 6, 2023, Ross sent Meggs a text message calling an unnamed
woman a “stupid broad” for asking if the DC Metro Club, a Spelman College student
group that helped organize the first official Freaknik picnic, was from the District of
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Columbia area. Meggs responded with a gif of a woman falling out of her chair in defeat,
mocking the woman who asked the question, in likely reference to Cooper given her
involvement in the Freaknik documentary. Ross then texted that the same woman stated
Freaknik was a concert before Meggs replied that someone needs to tell Bittenbender.
Ross texted that he is going to and followed up by sending Meggs an article from Variety
magazine about the Freaknik documentary. Ross then sent another text stating, “Look
where this dumb broads name is listed,” followed by “White bullshit.” Cooper was
referenced in the article. Meggs responded saying “A JOKE” followed by “y’all black
folks look crazy.” The text messages are included below:
60. On April 11, 2023, Meggs texted Ross about Freaknik. She asked Ross to
call her and said that P. Frank, referring to P. Frank Williams, director and executive
producer on Freaknik and a Black male, had called her. Meggs prompted Ross to call P.
Frank and say that he was also concerned about the press and that “the culture,” meaning
Black culture, is not being accurately portrayed because “it’s NOT from the culture itself,”
meaning a Black person is not handling the press for Freaknik. Meggs then provided
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Ross with additional instructions, saying “You don’t have to say her name or make it
black or white,” followed by “he [P. Frank] is not dumb.” Meggs was actively referring
to coded racialized language in reference to Cooper, a White woman not a part of “the
culture,” which P. Frank would recognize. Meggs then stated “THEY don’t get us,” with
“THEY” referencing White members of Mass Appeal handling press for the Freaknik
documentary. Of note, the underlying press release Ross and Meggs were discussing
was released by Hulu. Ross responded with “Ok I just hit him,” meaning he reached out
to P. Frank. Meggs responded to Ross by telling him “Just stay to facts, Solve the
problem,” referring to Cooper’s involvement in Freaknik as the problem. She then
prompted Ross to ask P. Frank “who is handling that communication to Hulu,” which
was in reference to Cooper, who assumed that role for the project. Meggs then instructed
Ross to express his concerns once P. Frank answered and Ross replied “Relax I’m a
problem solver if you haven’t noticed” followed by an annoyed eye roll emoji. Meggs
responded “Then I shouldn’t have had to call you Today!” The text messages are
included below:
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61. The following day, April 12, 2023, Ross sent Meggs a screenshot from his
phone of a video call with a number of individuals on the screen, including Cooper and
P. Frank. Meggs responded by pointing out and laughing at how P. Frank had named
himself on the video call, in reference to the title “Black King” next to his name. Meggs
then asked Ross if he had talked to Bittenbender yet, to which Ross replied with an emoji
with its hand over its face followed by “Gotta [talk] to you.” Meggs responded with an
emoji doing an eye roll alluding to annoyance. Ross then said “I’ll call you” before Meggs
responded “That means NO. Y’all scared to get that white woman in trouble!,” in
reference to Cooper and the previous conversation about getting her removed from the
Freaknik documentary. Meggs then typed “I’ll be on a film break in 20,” alluding that
they could speak in twenty minutes. Ross called Meggs “Jedi Master Jenya” before
sending three laughing emojis. The text messages are included below:
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62. On April 13, 2023, Meggs texted Ross saying she was dealing with a flooded
city and only four hours of sleep due to filming. Meggs followed these texts up with
“Tired af,” saying she is tired “as fuck.” Ross replied that he understands and hopes she
has a better rest of her day, to which Meggs replied with “aren’t you nice,” followed by
“still helping white women?” with an accompanying laughing emoji. Ross replied with
“Bye Jenya,” also accompanied by a laughing emoji. Later that day, at around 4:43 p.m.,
Ross sent Meggs a text message asking her to call him. He then texted Meggs an
Instagram post at 6:16 p.m. from Mass Appeal’s Instagram page related to Freaknik. Ross
stated that the post was terrible and asked who approved it before stating that the post
did not mention “JD” or “Luke” and only referenced two “white owned companies.”
Ross then sent Meggs a screenshot from a conversation between Ross and Bittenbender
where Ross addresses the post and says that he knows Bittenbender did not approve the
Instagram post but asking why “JD” and “Luke” were not mentioned and stating that
this was a “culture event” and that they cannot put things out that “don’t represent the
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culture.” Bittenbender responded by saying he was uninvolved with Mass Appeal’s
socials but that “JD” was tagged and that he “just snapped” on them to fix it, them
referring to the social media team. The messages are included below:
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63. As a result of Meggs’ repeated and successful efforts to reduce Cooper’s
role at Mass Appeal and have her removed from various projects, Cooper’s influence and
responsibilities at Mass Appeal were drastically reduced. Consequently, Cooper became
expendable.
64. On June 16, 2023, Bittenbender told Cooper that she was being terminated
from Mass Appeal. Although Bittenbender explained the termination was because of the
state of the industry in the United States and because the company had not “sold
enough,“ no other individual of similar experience or rank at Mass Appeal was
terminated.
65. Bittenbender asked Cooper to stay on as a consultant for the few remaining
projects she still had to mitigate harm to Mass Appeal’s relationships with the talent and
content distributors associated with those projects and told Cooper her last day of
employment would be June 30, 2023.
Michael Harris
66. On June 17, 2023, Michael Harris, Megg’s “jilted lover,” sent Bittenbender
the following email:
Dear Peter,
I hope this message finds you well. My name is Michael

Harris, the ex-lover of Jenya Meggs. Before I proceed, I must
confess that my intentions in contacting you are not entirely
honorable. Before becoming a jilted lover, I had envisioned
spending the rest of my life with Jenya, and her betrayal has
left me devastated so I am seeking solace in the form of
retribution. While I recognize that this approach may taint my
credibility, I still believe it is crucial to shed light on the
actions that could be highly detrimental to your
organization's reputation and success.
During the course of our relationship, I uncovered some

disconcerting information about Jenya's personal and
professional conduct.
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I am aware that Jenya has taken precautions to prevent any

conversations that might reveal her actions. She understands
the potential impact it could have on her career, which is why
I have chosen to reach out to you in this manner. I believe you
deserve to know the truth and have the opportunity to
address this matter. I have evidence that indicates Jenya's
involvement in activities that are detrimental to your
company. I know Jenya and I am quite certain she is
feverishly, trying to put all the pieces in place before I expose
her. I have text messages, witness accounts, and other forms
of evidence that I believe will be of great interest to you.
Trust is a vital foundation in any professional relationship,

and it must be immensely disheartening to discover that
someone you trusted could betray that trust so profoundly.
However, I firmly believe that it is essential to expose her for
who she truly is.
Please let me know how you would like to proceed, as I am

fully prepared to provide you with the evidence and offer any
assistance you may require.
Thank you for taking the time to read this message. I trust that
you will make the appropriate decisions to address this
situation. I am available at your convenience and ready to
assist in any way possible.
Sincerely,
Michael Harris
67. On June 22, 2023, Harris called Cooper and told her that Meggs had
“conspired” with Session and Pierre to force Mass Appeal to terminate Cooper’s
employment.
68. Harris provided Cooper with text messages (quoted in this Complaint)
from Meggs’ phone showing repeated derogatory and racist references to Cooper.
69. Harris also revealed that he was on the November 28, 2022, call between
Cooper, Meggs, and Session. In an email summary about the November 28, 2022 call sent
to Cooper and other employees of Mass Appeal, Harris wrote:
Tana mediated a conflict resolution between Jenya and

Melissa with Peter B. Present. What Peter and Melissa didn’t
know was that Jenya and Tana had drafted their strategy and
27
talking point before the group call (I heard the whole thing,
Jenya loved for me to hear her power moves and put those
calls on speaker for her enjoyment). Jenya put the conflict
resolution call meeting on speaker with mute enabled and no
video, again I was present at Jenya’s. It was a bleed bath,
Jenya and Tana dismantled that woman and when Melissa
was trying to make a point, Tana was ready with the
predetermined counterpoint and shut her down. They
brought that woman to tears and figuratively high fived each
other on their private call after the meeting. Laughing about
Melissa queued “the white tears.”
70. Harris had a unique window into Megg’s racism and stated as follows:
Melissa: sacrificial pawn. From the moment Jenya felt Melissa

crossed her, that woman didn’t stand a chance. I have Jenya’s
text messages and listened to calls of Jenya sabatoging
Melissa’s Freaknik project. Text messages of Jenya asking her
connections on Freaknik to screw Melissa by reporting
damning things to Peter B. Out of self-preservation Jenya’s
requests went mostly unanswered but I think that has more
to do with their own self-interest in wanting the project to be
a success, but that didn’t stop Jenya from masking. Jenya
would say she had the power to shut Freaknik and Melissa
down. Jenya told me “I will drag that ho for fucking with me.”
And that she would make her life miserable for the rest of her
Mass Appeal employment.
71. Cooper immediately forwarded the text message and emails provided by
Harris to Bittenbender.
72. The following day on June 23, 2023, Bittenbender and Cooper spoke over
the phone about the text messages and Harris’ emails. When Cooper told Bittenbender
she was discriminated against by Meggs, Bittenbender responded by telling her “I am
sorry you had to read this but this isn’t illegal.”
73. Following the conversation, Bittenbender and Mass Appeal conducted no
investigation into Melissa’s claims of racial discrimination.
74. Melissa’s last day with Mass Appeal was on June 30, 2023.
75. Meggs is still employed by Mass Appeal and has not had any disciplinary
actions taken against her for her racist conduct.
28
76. As a consequence of Meggs’ race- and color-based animus towards Cooper
as a White woman, Mass Appeal and Bittenbender unlawfully discriminated against
Cooper by removing her from several high value projects, creating a hostile work
environment, and terminating her employment.
FIRST CLAIM
(Section 1981 – Race Discrimination)
77. Plaintiff repeats and incorporates all foregoing paragraphs by reference.
78. Defendants discriminated against Plaintiff on the basis of her race and/or
color in violation of Section 1981 by denying Plaintiff equal terms and conditions by, inter
alia, terminating her employment because of her race and/or color as described herein.
79. As a direct and proximate result of Defendants’ unlawful and willful
discriminatory conduct in violation of Section 1981, Plaintiff has suffered and continues
to suffer emotional distress, including embarrassment, humiliation, stress, anxiety and
mental anguish.
discriminatory conduct in violation of Section 1981, Plaintiff has suffered and continues
to suffer monetary and/or economic harm.
81. Defendants’ unlawful discriminatory actions in violation of Section 1981
were intentional or done with reckless indifference to Plaintiff’s rights.
82. As a result of Defendants’ unlawful discriminatory conduct, Plaintiff is
entitled to all remedies and relief afforded by Section 1981, including but not limited to
declaratory and injunctive relief, compensatory damages, emotional distress damages,
punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees and costs.
29
SECOND CLAIM
(NYSHRL - Discrimination)
84. At all relevant times, Defendant Mass Appeal was Plaintiff’s employer as
defined by the NYSHRL, N.Y. Exec. Law § 292(5).
85. Defendants discriminated against Plaintiff in violation of the NYSHRL,
N.Y. Exec. Law § 296 et seq., by, inter alia, creating a hostile work environment and
terminating Plaintiff’s employment because of her race and color as described herein.
86. Individual Defendants Meggs and Bittenbender are individually liable
under the NYSHRL because they directly participated in or knowingly and maliciously
aided and abetted the unlawful discriminatory practices.
discriminatory conduct in violation of the NYSHRL, Plaintiff has suffered and continues
to suffer mental anguish and emotional distress, including but not limited to depression,
humiliation, embarrassment, loss of self-esteem and self-confidence, and emotional pain
and suffering.
discriminatory conduct in violation of the NYSHRL, Plaintiff has suffered and continues
to suffer monetary and/or economic damages, including but not limited to loss of past
and future income, compensation, and benefits.
89. Defendants’ unlawful and discriminatory actions constitute malicious,
willful and wanton violations of the NYSHRL or were done with reckless disregard for
Plaintiff’s rights.
entitled to all remedies and relief afforded the NYSHRL, including but not limited to
30
declaratory and injunctive relief, monetary, damages, emotional distress damages,
THIRD CAUSE OF ACTION

(NYCHRL - Discrimination)
92. At all relevant times, Defendant Mass Appeal was Plaintiff’s employer for
purposes of the NYCHRL.
93. Defendants discriminated against Plaintiff in violation of the NYCHRL by,
inter alia, creating a hostile work environment and terminating Plaintiff’s employment
because of her race, and color as described herein.
94. Individual Defendants Meggs and Bittenbender are individually liable
under the NYCHRL because they directly participated in or knowingly and maliciously
aided and abetted the unlawful discriminatory practices
discriminatory conduct in violation of the NYCHRL, Plaintiff has suffered and continues
to suffer mental anguish and emotional distress, including but not limited to depression,
humiliation, embarrassment, loss of self-esteem and self-confidence, and emotional pain
and suffering.
discriminatory conduct in violation of the NYCHRL, Plaintiff has suffered and continues
to suffer monetary and/or economic damages, including but not limited to loss of past
and future income, compensation, and benefits.
97. Defendants’ unlawful and discriminatory actions constitute malicious,
willful and wanton violations of the NYCHRL or were done with reckless disregard for
Plaintiff’s rights.
31
entitled to all remedies and relief afforded the NYSHRL, including but not limited to
declaratory and injunctive relief, monetary, damages, emotional distress damages,
PRAYER FOR RELIEF
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff respectfully requests that this Court:
a. declare that Defendants’ actions as described in this Complaint violated
Section 1981, the NYSHRL, and the NYCHRL;
b. enjoin and permanently restrain Defendants’ violations of Section 1981,
the NYSHRL, and the NYCHRL;
c. order Defendants to reinstate Plaintiff to her position;
d. award Plaintiff back pay, front pay, and liquidated damages;
e. award Plaintiff compensatory damages for emotional distress, pain, and
suffering;
f. award Plaintiff punitive damages;
g. award Plaintiff her reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses;
h. award Plaintiff pre- and post-judgment interest;
i. award Plaintiff such other and further relief as the Court deems just and
proper.
32

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What is the nature of the lawsuit?

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Case 1:23-cv-09115 Document 1 Filed 10/17/23 Page 1 of 33

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

Plaintiff Melissa Cooper (“Plaintiff” or “Cooper”), by her attorneys Pechman Law

Group PLLC, complaining of unlawful discrimination by Defendants Mass Appeal

(“Meggs”) (collectively, “Defendants”), alleges:

NATURE OF THE ACTION

always been a proponent of telling stories and shedding light on underrepresented

communities, and by doing so has established an excellent reputation among her

colleagues from every background.

2. Despite being successful in her role as Head of Development at Mass

for termination simply because she was White.

3. When Peter Bittenbender, in his capacity as Mass Appeal’s chief executive

conducted no investigation into Cooper’s claims of racial discrimination. Instead,

4. Cooper brings this action seeking declaratory and injunctive relief,

reinstatement, and monetary damages to redress Defendants’ unlawful discrimination

supplemental jurisdiction over Plaintiff’s NYSHRL and NYCHRL claims pursuant to 28

6. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391, venue is proper in the Southern District of

occurred in this District.

Plaintiff Melissa Cooper

citizen of New York.

9. Cooper was employed by Mass Appeal as a Development Consultant in its

October 2022 to June 30, 2023.

Defendant Mass Appeal Media Inc.

11. Mass Appeal is an entertainment company dedicated to telling stories from

Dara Jones, known by his stage name “Nas.”

Defendant Peter Bittenbender

12. Defendant Peter Bittenbender resides and is domiciled in New York

County, New York.

Defendant Jenya Meggs

Cooper’s Professional Background and Position at Mass Appeal

for producing The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

20. At Vision Art Management, Cooper acted as an assistant to Scott Schwartz

and was later promoted to a junior agent.

Vice President of Development in 2015.

to content distributors for production.

the WeTV Network.

24. In April 2021, Mass Appeal hired Cooper as a Development Consultant

programming projects to content distributors.

Appeal in the selling of programming to television networks, studios, and streaming

Jenya Meggs and Mass Appeal

programming strategies and partnerships for Mass Appeal.

the company’s hiring and employment practices.

hire her. Session is a Black female.

Meggs’ Hostility to Cooper

30. On or about December 2021, Bittenbender, a White male, instructed Cooper

development video calls for upcoming projects.

32. In approximately July 2021, Cooper brought in and developed a

community that was eventually shut down by the City of Atlanta.

becoming the company’s first documentary sold to the streaming service.

Hulu and securing Hulu’s decision to buy the project.

These messages are shown below:

white boy,” in reference to Bittenbender. These messages are shown below:

while discussing Bittenbender’s decision on a Mass Appeal project. Specifically, Ross

Cooper. These messages are shown below:

meeting, a potential project focusing on a “townhall” style event exploring the