GETTY FACES DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT OVER MULTICULTURAL INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

Samantha Niemann, a white Southern Utah University student, is suing the Getty Foundation for alleged racial discrimination after the foundation refused her application to its multicultural undergraduate internship program, CBS Los Angeles reports.

In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Niemann claims that she “was deterred from applying” for the foundation’s paid internship program in February 2015 despite being a “well-qualified” applicant because her German, Irish, and Italian descent made her ineligible.

The foundation updated its website several months ago so that the eligibility criteria for the program reads: “The internships are intended for outstanding students who are members of groups underrepresented in museums and visual arts organizations, including but not limited to individuals of African American, Asian, Latino/Hispanic, Native American, and Pacific Islander descent.”

In response to the lawsuit, the vice president of communications for the J. Paul Getty Trust, Ron Hartwig, said, “The Getty is very proud of the highly successful multicultural undergraduate internship program. Over the past twenty-three years, Getty grants have supported over 3,000 internships at 152 organizations throughout the county. We review and revise all of our grant categories from time to time and over the years have made a number of policy and procedural changes to the internship program.”