Thu, 12/17/2020
On Monday, December 14, 2020, Pinterest settled a gender discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed in August 2020 by its former chief operating officer for $22.5 million, making it one of the largest publicly announced individual gender discrimination settlements in history. In exchange for the large sum of damages, Pinterest was not required to admit liability. According to the parties’ statement, the settlement includes a $2.5 million investment to be used to “advance women and underrepresented minorities in the tech industry.”
In response to the lawsuit, Pinterest opened an investigation into its culture and hired two prominent African American women media executives to its board of directors. Pinterest also hired a new head of inclusion and diversity, made salary information more transparent and created a partnership with the N.A.A.C.P. for an advisory council.
This settlement was reached very soon after the plaintiff filed her lawsuit in August of this year, alleging that although she was a top executive responsible for the company’s revenue and roughly half of the company’s 2,000 employees, she was left out of meetings, given sexist feedback and paid less than her male peers. She further alleged that she was terminated in April 2020 in retaliation for speaking up about the discrimination. The swift settlement and expansive terms may herald a large shift in Silicon Valley’s attitude toward gender discrimination.
If you believe that your employer pays you differently based on your sex or gender identity, contact MSE at info@mselaborlaw.com. For more information about the assistance MSE provides to workers challenging gender- and race-based pay inequities and disparities, visit https://www.mselaborlaw.com/practice-areas/metoo-in-the-workplace.
