A former Facebook diversity recruiter has filed a $100 million lawsuit against the social media platform, alleging she was discriminated against based on her race and disability.
What We Know:
- Anastasia Boone Talton, a senior talent acquisition specialist who was reportedly hired to diversify Facebook, filed the lawsuit on March 17 in California’s San Mateo Superior Court. She is suing her former employer for discrimination and harassment, failure to accommodate her disability, retaliation, wrongful termination, and breach of contract. She is also requesting a jury trial.
- The Daily Mail obtained the court filings submitted by Boone Talton. “Facebook would simply fly out a candidate just to make the quota of saying that they interviewed at least one diverse candidate, but nine times out of ten, that person was not hired,” her lawyer said.
- When Boone Talton complained to Facebook about what she was seeing, the company began treating her differently, the lawsuit alleges. She was left out of company events and was also allegedly told she was not a “cultural fit” when she asked for medical accommodations to help support her medical issues.
- The last straw for Boone Talton was when she watched a male co-worker, who was hired at the same time she was, be given preferential treatment, and climb the managerial ladder while Facebook failed to promote her. She said she was doing the same work but earning less money.
- Facebook denied these claims in a statement to Business Insider: “We don’t tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind at Facebook and absolutely disagree with the account presented in this claim,” advised Facebook Spokesperson Bertie Thomson.
- Facebook has come under increased scrutiny in recent years for its culture. A gender discrimination and racial discrimination lawsuit was filed by Chia Hong in 2015 and eventually settled. Employees also detailed racist incidents of minorities being sabotaged in an open letter.
According to Statista, as of 2019, Facebook’s workforce is approximately 44% white, 43% Asian and less than 10% Black and LatinX.
