A lawsuit filed against Meta alleged that the company was covering up the sexist treatment of female employees while hiring and promoting less qualified men instead of more qualified women for the same roles, a report by Ars Technica shared. Jeffrey Smith, an engineer who had joined the company in 2018 filed the complaint in a US district court in New York stating that his “upward trajectory stopped” after he reported alleged misogynistic management practices at the company.
According to the complaint, Smith was asked to resign sometime after receiving his first-ever negative performance review from his manager, Sacha Arnaud. This consequently cut his bonus payout and affected his company stock. The retaliation caused emotional distress to Smith as noted in the lawsuit.
While his direct reports regarded him as “pro-active” and the “most thoughtful manager” ever, Smith complained about sexism after a notable incident where an “exceedingly capable female Meta employee” had her role downsized during a structural change. Her duties were then divided between two male employees one of whom Smith considered as “a particularly poor fit,” given they had much lesser experience.
Smith has offered more examples where female employees’ work was looked at “more critically than men’s work.” But his concerns remained unaddressed by the management.
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Post this, Smith stated that his formal review was skipped over and he received an informal critical review instead. Eventually, his manager suggested him to move internally before stating that he should consider resigning.
The lawsuit alleges Meta violated anti-retaliation and anti-interference laws in New York which could result in civil and punitive damages as compensation to Smith.
Meta hasn’t commented on the lawsuit yet.
Published - June 20, 2024 10:53 am IST
