The professional breakup between Dina LaPolt and a former mentee at her law firm has intensified with new racial discrimination claims against the powerhouse music attorney.
Two months after LaPolt sued lawyer Mariah Comer for defamation and breach of contract, Comer hit back with her own lawsuit alleging she was subjected to “egregious racial discrimination” during her time at LaPolt Law. Comer is Black and Mexican.
“Throughout plaintiff’s employment, defendant LaPolt held Black employees, including plaintiff, to different and higher standards than white employees, while simultaneously paying them less and providing them fewer opportunities,” reads Comer’s Friday (Feb. 6) complaint, first obtained and reported by Billboard.
LaPolt maintains that she never engaged in any racial discrimination. Rather, she alleges that Comer fabricated the defamatory claims after she left the firm and started her own practice due to “pride, ego and an overblown sense of her own importance.”
Comer first joined LaPolt Law as an intern in 2019, and she was promoted to partner in 2022. Comer claims she was paid less than white employees at the same level while also allegedly facing racism, such as one incident in which LaPolt allegedly commented during a client meeting that Comer only got into Cornell Law School because of affirmative action.
According to the lawsuit, LaPolt treated Comer as the “diversity face of the firm,” expecting her to regularly meet with and court Black prospective clients. Comer also alleges LaPolt required only the Black employees come into the office, while white employees were allowed to work remotely.
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The undisputed key inflection point in LaPolt and Comer’s relationship was a 2024 licensing matter for an unnamed artist who was releasing a cover of an existing song. LaPolt claims Comer botched this project, while Comer’s lawsuit alleges it was LaPolt who gave the wrong guidance and then blamed her for the mistake.
After it became clear in fall 2025 that this song had not been properly cleared, LaPolt assigned a senior partner to oversee Comer and decreased her commissions as a result. Comer claims this decision was “motivated by racial animus and stereotypes about Black employees” and that it sent her into a “mental health crisis,” ultimately leading her to resign and open up her own practice instead.
Comer is now bringing a slew of racial discrimination claims, and she alleges that LaPolt’s December defamation lawsuit was an unlawful act of retaliation for her complaints of bias. Comer also claims she is entitled to past-due commissions from LaPolt Law, including for a “significant catalogue sale transaction” that she negotiated.
“As a direct and proximate result of defendants’ extreme and outrageous conduct, plaintiff suffered severe emotional distress, including severe anxiety, depression, humiliation, and mental anguish requiring ongoing therapy sessions, psychiatric care and prescription medication,” reads the lawsuit.
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In a statement to Billboard on Monday (Feb. 9), Comer’s attorney Rodney Diggs said, “This lawsuit seeks accountability and sends a clear message that discrimination and retaliation cannot be ignored, regardless of the setting or the stature of those involved.”
“Ms. Comer’s case exposes a disturbing reality: even in 2025, even for a Cornell Law School graduate, and even at the partner level, Black attorneys can still face blatant racial discrimination in elite professional settings,” said Diggs.
Meanwhile, LaPolt’s attorney Christopher Frost told Billboard in a statement Monday that LaPolt “believed in Ms. Comer’s potential” and provided her with “considerable support.”
“Ms. LaPolt’s complaint outlines that Ms. Comer faced consequences for her lack of judgment and questionable professional behavior,” added Frost. “She then added insult to injury by choosing to leave her job, start a competing law firm, try to extract a severance, and defame and disparage Ms. LaPolt — her longtime professional supporter and a career-long advocate for artists and songwriters, women, the LGBTQ community, and racial diversity and equality. Ms. LaPolt sincerely hopes that Ms. Comer will learn to refocus her energy on her wellness and moving forward.”
