January 15, 2021

$20 Million Pinterest Settlement May Have Lasting Effects for HR Diversity Initiatives

A significant gender discrimination lawsuit brought by the former COO against her former employer, Pintrerest, at the end of last year may have hiring and diversity ramifications far beyond the doors of the Silicon Valley organization. Francoise Brougher claimed that she had been subject to sexist and discriminatory practices during her two-year stint at the company. Since Brougher filed, several additional accusations from workers at Pinterest allege a culture of sexism and racism as well as the company using retaliatory measures against those who spoke out.

This summer, after these allegations surfaced, workers at Pinterest walked out in protest, forcing the company to take the accusations seriously. As part of the settlement, Brougher and Pinterest will give $2.5 million to organizations whose missions include fighting sexism and racism in tech. This is in addition to the more than $20 million Brougher was awarded in the settlement.

Observers believe this settlement is significant because Pinterest chose to settle, rather than litigate against Brougher. Also significant is her willingness to forgo the all-too-common NDA, a preferred Silicon Valley tool to keep settlements confidential. 

According to Human Resource Executive, which spoke with several tech observers, this has the potential to shake up the C-suite mentality of it being a boys club where decisions are made out of sight. This could force tech companies and their HR departments to take seriously the deeply-rooted problems within tech culture.

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Expansion to Child Credit Slated for Inclusion in New Round of Stimulus

February 10, 2021
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If Congress’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan becomes law, one important addition to its language will be the expansion of the child tax credit, thanks to Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut.

A Personal Account of Workplace Harassment Highlights How Common the Behavior Is

February 5, 2021
Gender Discrimination
Race Discrimination
Pregnancy Discrimination
Disability Discrimination
Sexual Harassment
In fact, many of the discrimination cases we take on follow very similar outlines. An employee, even a very senior one, is intimidated, berated, and subjected to mistreatment at the hands of a manager or executive, and has trouble sorting through the proper legal response to the situation.

New Report Shows Paid Family and Sick Leave Essential for Women Remaining in the Workforce

February 1, 2021
Paid Family Leave
Pregnancy Discrimination
A recent report from the Paid Leave for the US (PL+US), one of the leading campaigns to deliver federal-level paid family and medical leave has important findings about issues near to our hearts and our practice.

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