Human Capital: The biggest labor stories of 2020
Hellllooooo, 2021! Welcome back to Human Capital, a weekly newsletter that details the latest in the realms of labor, diversity and inclusion.
Not a ton happened this week so I figured I’d use the time to look back on some of the more notable labor stories of 2020.
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Gig workers vs. Uber, Lyft, Instacart et al.
California’s Proposition 22, backed by gig companies like Uber, Lyft and DoorDash, passed to ensure gig workers are classified as independent contractors. It was an important proposition that resulted in the yes side contributing north of $200 million to its efforts. But the fight isn’t over, which you can read about here.
Human Capital: Ex-Pinterest employees who alleged discrimination say ‘no progress has been made’
This was quite the week for Pinterest, and not in a good way. While the company settled the gender discrimination lawsuit brought forth by its former COO, the hefty $22.5 million settlement highlighted some of the tech industry’s inequities.
Meanwhile, Airbnb outlined some new goals around diversity and inclusion, despite having not produced a diversity report since last year, when it disclosed its 2018 data.
All that and more in this week’s edition of Human Capital. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox every Friday at 1 p.m. PT.
Pinterest’s $22.5M settlement highlights tech’s inequities, say former employees who alleged discrimination
When Ifeoma Ozoma and Aerica Shimizu Banks, formerly of Pinterest’s policy team, alleged racial and gender discrimination at Pinterest in June, the hope was for Pinterest to make them whole and address its culture of alleged discrimination, Ozoma told TechCrunch. But that’s not what happened.
“It’s about as plain a case of disparate treatment and discrimination as you can come up with,” Ozoma said.
On a call with TechCrunch today, Ozoma and Banks described a double standard in their experiences compared to Brougher’s. While Brougher received a $20 million payout, Ozoma and Banks received less than one year’s worth of severance.