Pinterest delayed the planned announcement of a new board member on Friday amid a virtual departure from employees demanding a change after allegations of discrimination by management.
More than 350 of the 2,400 Pinterest employees signed a protest and virtual labor action. Because they are already working from home, instead of leaving the offices, they signed into the company’s computer system, borrowing a protest strategy from Facebook employees. Pinterest didn’t want its board announcement to compete with attention in the employee protest, according to a person familiar with the matter.
“We want systemic change so that we can continue to be proud of where we work,” employees wrote anonymously in a petition calling for transparency in pay and in the promotion and retention of minority workers.
Earlier this week, former COO Francoise Brougher said in a lawsuit that she was fired after speaking out about gender discrimination by the photo-sharing website’s male-led leadership team. His complaint increased criticism of the management, both publicly and internally. Pinterest had already responded to allegations by two employees on its policy team alleging racial and gender discrimination. When those claims were made public earlier this year, CEO Ben Silbermann said parts of the company’s culture were “broken.”
Pinterest told employees it would not retaliate against them for Friday’s protest.
Pinterest will not dissuade any member of our community from showing their support to improving inclusion and diversity at the company, or within the large industry,” Chief HR Officer Jo Dennis said Thursday in a message to all employees who were seen by Bloomberg. The San Francisco-based company declined to comment on the board’s planned announcement, but has previously said that it aims to add more diversity to its leadership team. Currently the board of directors is made up of six men and two women.
