The lawsuit alleges that the corporation subjected them to discrimination and unfair pay practice, wrongfully firing them after each brought their complaints to senior staff.

Two former employees of the immersive arts and entertainment company Meow Wolf filed a lawsuit on Tuesday alleging that the corporation subjected them to discrimination and unfair pay practice, wrongfully firing them after each brought their complaints to senior staff.

Tara Khozein and Gina Maciuszek filed their claim with the First Judicial Court in Santa Fe; they are seeking to have their case recognized as a class action, representing more than 50 female workers of Meow Wolf who the women say have been affected by unfair labor practices since 2017.

More specifically, their suit alleges “a pattern and practice of subjecting female employees to different compensation, terms, conditions, and/or privileges of employment than their male colleagues.” The women are seeking compensatory and punitive damages for discrimination, attorneys’ fees, and other legal costs.

According to the lawsuit, Khozein began working with the immersive experience company in September as a performance content director until she was fired nearly five months later in February. She claims to have earned well below Santa Fe’s minimum wage at the time, $11.40 per hour. (Recently, the city’s minimum wage increased to $11.80 per hour.) Classified as a part-time employee, Khozein says she earned $384.61 for a workweek that often lasted longer than 40 hours with no overtime. Under those circumstances, Meow Wolf would have been required to pay her at least $456 for a 40-hour workweek. Additionally, she alleges that her firing came after she brought concerns about pay — in addition to accusations of a pattern of racial and gender discrimination in the workplace — to the attention of her supervisors.

Maciuszek was hired as a content director in early October but was soon fired in mid-November after telling supervisors she was being scrutinized more severely than her male counterparts, according to the claim. The allegation names Nicolas Gonda, head of entertainment at the company, and Marianne Palacios, vice president of human resources — both individually listed as defendants in the lawsuit — as telling her she was being “too assertive.”

Previously, Khozein and Maciuszek filed a discrimination complaint in April against the company with the New Mexico Human Rights Bureau, according to the lawsuit, but the bureau issued them “Orders of Non-Determination” in May.