Current:Home > ScamsFired Black TikTok workers allege culture of discrimination in civil rights complaint-InfoLens
Fired Black TikTok workers allege culture of discrimination in civil rights complaint
View Date:2024-12-23 15:25:04
Two former Black TikTok employees have accused parent company ByteDance of terminating them because they complained about racial discrimination.
In a complaint filed Thursday with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Nnete Matima and Joël Carter said they faced retaliation for calling out discrimination that is “emblematic of a systemic problem in Silicon Valley and more generally in large American companies.”
Matima, who worked in sales at TikTok, says she was referred to as a “black snake” by her supervisor and was forced to meet a higher sales outreach quota than her white peers.
Carter, a manager on TikTok’s ad policy team, said he was assigned to a lower level and salary than his peers with the same education and work experience who were not Black.
Both said they faced reprisals when they complained about the disparate treatment.
ByteDance didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The complaint comes as China-based ByteDance faces growing scrutiny over fears that it would allow Beijing to obtain data on Americans.
For nearly a decade, the technology industry has worked to improve the representation of women and people of color among its workers and leaders with little progress.
Like other companies, TikTok made commitments to more diverse hiring and more inclusive workplace practices after the 2020 murder of George Floyd.
After Black TikTok creators raised concerns that they were unequally treated on the social media app, the company pledged “to work each and every day to create a supportive environment for the Black community and everyone across the world.”
In their EEOC complaint, Matima and Carter said that instead, they faced a “pattern or practice of retaliation against workers who complain about discrimination.” Both said they were the only Black employees in their roles for most of their employment.
“This case demonstrates the dilemma that way too many workers of color face today: they can ignore discrimination and let biased supervisors sabotage their careers, or they can report that discrimination and suffer retaliation that often leads to being terminated,” they wrote. “ No worker should have to choose from such dehumanizing alternatives.”
veryGood! (4)
Related
- How Leonardo DiCaprio Celebrated His 50th Birthday
- WWE Bash in Berlin 2024 live results: Winners, highlights of matches from Germany
- Teenager Kimi Antonelli to replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes in 2025
- Horoscopes Today, August 31, 2024
- Kentucky governor says investigators will determine what caused deadly Louisville factory explosion
- The Vistabule DayTripper teardrop camper trailer is affordable (and adorable)
- The Week 1 feedback on sideline-to-helmet communications: lots of praise, some frustration
- Clay Matthews jokes about why Aaron Rodgers wasn't at his Packers Hall of Fame induction
- Kim Kardashian Says She's Raising Her and Kanye West's 4 Kids By Herself
- Thousands of US hotel workers strike over Labor Day weekend
Ranking
- Flurry of contract deals come as railroads, unions see Trump’s election looming over talks
- Suspect, 15, arrested in shooting near Ohio high school that killed 1 teen, wounded 4
- Wisconsin-Whitewater gymnastics champion Kara Welsh killed in shooting
- College football Week 1 grades: Minnesota fails after fireworks fiasco
- Will Trump’s hush money conviction stand? A judge will rule on the president-elect’s immunity claim
- Venice Film Festival welcomes Pitt and Clooney, and their new film ‘Wolfs’
- Why is ABC not working on DirecTV? Channel dropped before LSU-USC amid Disney dispute
- Caitlin Clark is now clear ROY favorite over Angel Reese. Why? She's helping Fever win.
Recommendation
-
Voters in Oakland oust Mayor Sheng Thao just 2 years into her term
-
One man dead, others burned after neighborhood campfire explodes
-
The Vistabule DayTripper teardrop camper trailer is affordable (and adorable)
-
LSU vs USC: Final score, highlights as Trojans win Week 1 thriller over Tigers
-
Wisconsin authorities believe kayaker staged his disappearance and fled to Europe
-
Georgia vs. Clemson highlights: Catch up on all the big moments from the Bulldogs' rout
-
College football schedule today: Games, scores for Saturday's Week 1 top 25 teams
-
Expect more illnesses in listeria outbreak tied to Boar's Head deli meat, food safety attorney says