There is a wave of accusations of racism spreading to the giants of the technology world. After Google faced such charges, there now appears to be a black Facebook employee who has filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC), alleging discrimination.
The commission is investigating allegations of racial prejudice and hiring practices on Facebook, an investigation the agency has classified as "systemic", Reuters reported.
Facebook accused of racism
In July, Facebook employee Oscar Veneszee Jr., who is black, filed a complaint with the EEOC with two people that Veneszee recruited but for that Facebook did not hire. The complaint alleges that the social platform discriminates against black candidates and employees and promotes racial stereotypes.
According to what was reported by the employee, Facebook has “a problem with blacks” and the company has failed to create a culture to attract and retain black workers.
According to Reuters, the EEOC has not filed charges against Facebook, and the agency's investigation cannot produce conclusions of any irregularity on the part of the company. Designating the investigation as “systemic” suggests that the EEOC may suspect that Facebook's hiring policies contribute to widespread discrimination, and such designation may pave the way for a possible collective action process.
The complaint is reminiscent of previous criticism of Facebook's diversity. In 2018, Facebook's then-partner manager, Mark Luckie, published an internal memo, sent to his co-workers on his last day at the company, where he said the company mistreated its black employees.
In some buildings, there are more 'Black Lives' posters than actual blacks. Facebook cannot claim to be connecting communities if these communities are not proportionally represented on its staff.
Luckie wrote.
Report shows that Facebook falls short of the target
Facebook's 2020 diversity report showed that the company was still falling short of its goal of having 50% in terms of the workforce of underrepresented groups by 2024. This number increased from 43% in 2019 to 45.3% in 2020.
Last June, Facebook employees staged a virtual standstill over the company's decision not to take action against former President Trump's publications, including a publication that included the phrase “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” looting begins, the shooting begins), seen as a threat to people protesting racial violence across the country last summer.
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