Megan Rose Dickey

December 16, 2020

Pinterest says it will adopt workplace culture recommendations

Pinterest has committed to adopting the recommendations from its special committee of the Board of Directors, the company wrote in a blog post today. The committee formed earlier this year in June, shortly after two former employees, Ifeoma Ozoma and Aerica Shimizu Banks, went public with their allegations of racial and gender discrimination while working at Pinterest.

The committee, which retained law firm WilmerHale to conduct a workplace review, spoke with more than 350 current and former employees to make its recommendations geared toward improving diversity, equity and inclusion at Pinterest. Here are a few of those recommendations:

mandatory unconscious bias training for every employee, including managers and executives
offer additional trainings on inclusivity and unconscious bias
include “diverse employees” in interview panels with job candidates
reward employees for their efforts to support and promote DEI
publish a diversity report twice a year for at least two years; after two years, publish the report annually
establish criteria for promotion eligibility
enhance Pinterest’s harassment and discrimination policy
create a centralized workplace investigations team to ensure consistent and fair outcomes

You can see all of the recommendations here. Pinterest, in a statement to TechCrunch, said it’s committed to making those changes.

“We value our employees and know it’s our responsibility to build a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment for everyone at Pinterest,” a Pinterest spokesperson said. “Because we understand the urgency for change, we have taken actions over the past months to ensure everyone at Pinterest feels safe, welcomed and championed and believe we’re on a path to ensuring a culture where all employees feel included and supported.”

In a note to employees, Pinterest CEO Ben Silbermann said that everyone at the company will have an opportunity to discuss the recommendations and ask questions later this week. Silberman also said he felt encouraged that many of the suggestions “mirror efforts we already have underway to build a culture where all employees feel included and supported.”

Pinterest’s $22.5M settlement highlights tech’s inequities, say former employees who alleged discrimination

Earlier this week, Pinterest settled a gender discrimination lawsuit with former COO Francoise Brougher for $22.5 million. But that hefty payout highlighted some of the inequities in tech. Brougher filed her lawsuit in August, after Ozoma and Banks went public with their allegations. While Brougher walked away with millions, Ozoma and Banks received less than one year’s worth of severance.

“So we, like in many, many, many other cases, Black women put ourselves on the line, shared absolutely everything that happened to us, then laid the groundwork for someone else to swoop in and collect ‘progress,’ ” Ozoma previously told TechCrunch. “No progress has been made here because no rights have been made with people who harm has been done to.”

December 15, 2020

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.

Just two months later, former Pinterest COO Françoise Brougher sued Pinterest, alleging gender discrimination, which yesterday resulted in a $22.5 million settlement. As part of the settlement, Pinterest will pay $20 million to Brougher and her attorneys, the company wrote in a filing.

“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.

“This follows the time-honored tradition in America where Black women come forward, blazing a trail, revealing injustice and white women coming in and reaping all the benefits of that,” Banks told TechCrunch.

Earlier this month, a group of shareholders filed a lawsuit against Pinterest executives, including CEO Ben Silbermann, alleging they enabled a culture of discrimination. The complaint goes on to allege that culture of discrimination has harmed Pinterest’s reputation and led to financial harm.

Human Capital: Google’s labor stumbles

For Ozoma and Banks, however, they say they’ve exhausted all of their legal options and will not pursue a lawsuit. Banks said it is important to keep in mind the fact that Brougher, a former COO, had far more resources to pursue litigation.

“So we, like in many, many, many other cases, Black women put ourselves on the line, shared absolutely everything that happened to us, then laid the groundwork for someone else to swoop in and collect ‘progress,’ ” Ozoma said. “No progress has been made here because no rights have been made with people who harm has been done to.”

As a part of the settlement, both Pinterest and Brougher will commit $2.5 million toward “advancing women and underrepresented communities” in the tech industry.

“Francoise welcomes the meaningful steps Pinterest has taken to improve its workplace environment and is encouraged that Pinterest is committed to building a culture that allows all employees to feel included and supported,” Pinterest and Brougher said in a joint statement detailing the settlement.

Ozoma took issue with Pinterest and Brougher donating $2.5 million to charity. She said, “it smells rotten,” noting that she herself is an individual and not a charity.

TechCrunch reached out to Pinterest regarding Ozoma and Banks’ recent statements. Pinterest declined to comment, saying the company doesn’t comment on legal matters. In June, however, Pinterest said in a statement to TechCrunch:

We took these issues seriously and conducted a thorough investigation when they were raised, and we’re confident both employees were treated fairly. We want each and every one of our employees at Pinterest to feel welcomed, valued, and respected. As we outlined in our statement on June 2nd, we’re committed to advancing our work in inclusion and diversity by taking action at our company and on our platform. In areas where we, as a company, fall short, we must and will do better.

Pinterest employees staged a walkout in August shortly after Brougher filed her suit. In addition to the walkout, a petition circulated throughout the company demanding systemic change. The change they sought entailed full transparency about promotion levels and retention, total compensation package transparency and for the people within two layers of reporting to the CEO to be at least 25% women and 8% underrepresented employees.

Since then, Pinterest has made some changes at the board level. A couple of days after the walkout, Pinterest announced Andrea Wishom as the company’s first-ever Black board member. In October, Pinterest added its second Black board member, Salaam Coleman Smith.

Pinterest says it has also enhanced its hiring and interview processes to try to improve diversity at senior levels, updated its inclusion training and launched an internal wiki detailing how Pinterest makes compensation decisions.

Pinterest had long been considered a leader in diversity and inclusion. When asked about whether that has ever been true — if Pinterest had effectively enacted a solid DEI strategy — Ozoma was clear.

“No. If it were true, I don’t think we’d be having a conversation right now.”

Discrimination, particularly toward Black women, is systemic in the tech industry. Earlier this month, Dr. Timnit Gebru said Google fired her for an email speaking out about ethics in artificial intelligence. Banks and Ozoma told TechCrunch they are worried about a chilling effect on other Black women coming forward.

Google’s co-lead of Ethical AI team says she was fired for sending an email

One person reached out to her, Banks said, asking about what hope other Black women have.

“That’s why we said something,” Ozoma said. “We’re not in a position that someone in the C-suite would have been. But our integrity means more than anything else, and if we can help other folks, we will.”

December 15, 2020

Airbnb sets new diversity goals

Airbnb, which recently went public and became a $100 billion company, has set two goals to try to improve diversity at the home-sharing and experiences company because it “is nowhere near satisfied with the status quo,” the company wrote in a blog post.

By the end of 2025, Airbnb is aiming for 20% of its U.S. workforce to be underrepresented minorities, which includes folks who self-identify as American Indian or Alaska Native, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latinx, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. Currently, underrepresented minorities make up just 12% of the company’s employee base.

The second goal is to increase the representation of women to 50% by the end of 2025. Currently, Airbnb says it is 46.9% female worldwide, but it’s worth noting Airbnb has not released a full diversity report since 2019 when it disclosed its 2018 numbers.

These goals come after Airbnb committed in June to making its Board of Directors and executive team 20% people of color by the end of 2021. Currently, Airbnb has one Black director on its board, Kenneth Chenault and one Black person on its executive team, Melissa Thomas-Hunt, who is head of global diversity and belonging.

This is also not the first time Airbnb has set goals. In 2016, Airbnb committed to increasing the percentage of employees from underrepresented groups from 9.64% to 11% by the end of 2017. Airbnb achieved that goal, which supports the claim that setting goals are helpful in increasing DEI.

How Airbnb handles discrimination claims

December 14, 2020

Pinterest settles gender discrimination lawsuit with former COO for $22.5 million

Pinterest today announced it has settled the gender discrimination lawsuit brought forth by former COO Francoise Brougher. In August, Brougher sued Pinterest, alleging gender discrimination, retaliation and wrongful termination.

As part of the settlement, Pinterest will pay $20 million to Brougher and her attorneys, and both Pinterest and Brougher will commit $2.5 million toward “Advancing women and underrepresented communities” in the tech industry, the company wrote in a filing.

“Pinterest recognizes the importance of fostering a workplace environment that is diverse, equitable and inclusive and will continue its actions to improve its culture,” Pinterest and Brougher said in a joint statement detailing the settlement. “Francoise welcomes the meaningful steps Pinterest has taken to improve its workplace environment and is encouraged that Pinterest is committed to building a culture that allows all employees to feel included and supported.”

Shortly after Brougher went public with her claims, Pinterest employees staged a walkout in response to her accusations as well as in response to the claims of two former Black Pinterest employees. Prior to Brougher’s claims, Aerica Shimizu Banks and Ifeoma Ozoma accused Pinterest of racial discrimination.

In addition to the walkout, a petition circulated throughout the company demanding systemic change. The change they sought entailed full transparency about promotion levels and retention, total compensation package transparency and for the people within two layers of reporting to the CEO to be at least 25% women and 8% underrepresented employees.

Since then, Pinterest has notably made some changes at the board level. A couple of days after the walkout, Pinterest announced Andrea Wishom as the company’s first-ever Black board member. In October, Pinterest added its second Black board member, Salaam Coleman Smith.

December 13, 2020

An even bigger battle for gig worker rights is on the horizon

When California voters passed Proposition 22 with 58.6% of the vote, they agreed with Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart and Postmates that gig workers should not be employees who are entitled to myriad labor rights. The proposition they passed stated that gig workers should be independent contractors who receive the limited benefits proposed by those companies.

“The first feeling I had was shock, disbelief and hurt,” Vanessa Bain, a worker-organizer with Gig Workers Collective, told TechCrunch. “It didn’t feel good to think that my fellow Californians voted to strip people like myself and my co-workers of our labor rights.”

But Prop 22 does not mark the end of the battle of the status of gig workers. Gig workers, lawyers and activists affiliated with Gig Workers Rising, Gig Workers Collective, the National Employment Law Project and the Working Partnerships for Families are all gearing up to redouble their efforts in the New Year. But the same goes for gig companies. Uber and Lyft are ready to take legislation similar to Prop 22 into other parts of the country and the world.

In the year ahead, we will likely see lobbying efforts from both gig companies and gig worker organizations alike, as well as more lawsuits.

“We didn’t have time for more grieving because as soon as it passed, every company signaled they’re looking to expand this model to the national level, which means our organizing needs to adjust accordingly,” Bain said.

So, really, the fight has just begun. In the year ahead, we will likely see lobbying efforts from both gig companies and gig worker organizations alike, as well as more lawsuits.

In 2019, the California state legislature passed Assembly Bill 5, which became law in January 2020.

AB 5 mandated that companies apply the ABC test to determine how to classify their workers. According to the ABC test, in order for a hiring entity to legally classify a worker as an independent contractor, it must prove the worker:

A — is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity.
B — performs work outside the scope of the entity’s business, and
C — is regularly engaged in an “independently established trade, occupation or business of the same nature as the work performed.”

Many have argued that gig economy companies do not pass the ABC test, while the companies themselves have, of course, argued that they do. As AB 5 made its way through the state legislature, gig companies banded together with their competitors to fight a collective enemy: labor rights for their respective workforces.

In August 2019, Uber and Lyft kicked off that fight with an initial $60 million put toward the ballot measure now known as Prop 22. Between August 2019 and November 2020, that number skyrocketed to around $205 million and brought in contributions from other companies like Postmates (now owned by Uber), Instacart and DoorDash. All that funding makes Proposition 22 the most expensive ballot measure in California since 1999.

Uber driver Sergei Fyodorov discusses why he supports a yes vote on Proposition 22 in Oakland, California on October 9, 2020. Image Credits: JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images

On the other side, major donors in opposition of Prop 22 included Service Employees International Union, United Food & Commercial Workers and International Brotherhood of Teamsters. They collectively contributed $15.9 million.

The ballot measure, which goes into effect this month, implements a few key benefits:

An earnings guarantee of at least 120% of minimum wage while on the job.
30 cents per engaged mile for expenses.
A healthcare stipend.
Occupational accident insurance for on-the-job injuries.
Automobile accident and liability insurance.

Ahead of the Prop 22 vote, Cherri Murphy, a ride-share driver for Uber and Lyft and lead organizer at Gig Workers Rising, was heavily involved in Gig Workers Rising’s efforts to combat the millions of dollars tech companies put into ensuring gig workers would be classified as independent contractors.

“We had a hell of a fight,” Murphy told TechCrunch. “We were up against a $205 million campaign but I still had to believe that we could win.”

December 12, 2020

Human Capital: Dr. Timnit Gebru says Google’s memo was ‘dehumanizing’

Welcome back to Human Capital, where I break down the latest in diversity, equity and inclusion, and labor in tech. This week, Twitter dropped its latest diversity report and Tesla released its first one ever. Meanwhile, Google CEO Sundar Pichai apologized for the way things went down with Dr. Timnit Gebru, a prominent researcher in artificial intelligence ethics.

Google’s Sundar Pichai will investigate events that led up to Dr. Timnit Gebru’s exit

In light of artificial intelligence researcher Dr. Timnit Gebru’s exit from Google last week, Google CEO Sundar Pichai sent a memo to staffers, obtained by Axios, saying the company would investigate “the circumstances that led up to Dr. Gebru’s departure, examining where we could have improved and led a more respectful process.”

In Pichai’s memo, he said the company needs to “accept responsibility for the fact that a prominent Black, female leader with immense talent left Google unhappily.” He also noted how it’s had a “ripple effect” through underrepresented communities at Google.

In response, on Twitter, Gebru said she didn’t see any plans for accountability. Instead, she said she saw “further gaslighting.” In an interview with Venture Beat, Gebru said Pichai’s memo is “dehumanizing” and makes her “sound like an angry Black woman.”

They paint me as this angry Black woman because they put you in this terrible workplace, and if you speak up about it, then you become a problem, and then they start talking about de-escalation strategies.

You write emails, they get ignored. You write documents, and they get ignored. Then you discuss how it’s being done and then they talk about you as if you’re like some angry Black woman who needs to be contained.

More Black women and Latinas are founding startups, according to Project Diane

Since 2018, the number of Black women and Latina founders doubled from 334 startups to more than 650, according to Project Diane. These women have also raised more money than they did in 2018, but they’re still raising less than the national average.

This year, Black women and Latina founders raised $3.1 billion compared to just $1 billion in 2018. Still, the median seed round for Black women is $125,000 and $200,000 for Latina founders, while the national median seed is $2.5 million.

Tesla finally released a diversity report

Tesla released its first-ever diversity report, showing the company is 34% white, 22% Hispanic, 10% Black, 21% Asian and 7% “additional groups” in the United States. Those breakdowns are not bad, but it’s worth noting Tesla employs many of those folks in its factories, which are notoriously problematic and have been the subject of allegations around racism and discrimination.

At the leadership level, Tesla is 59% white, 25% Asian, 4% Black and 4% Hispanic. Just 1% of those in leadership roles are from “additional groups.”

Meanwhile, Tesla’s gender diversity is objectively bad. Men account for 79% of Tesla’s overall workplace and 83% of its leaders in the United States.

Twitter shows slight improvement in latest diversity report

Twitter released its latest quarterly diversity report showing an increase in the representation of women, Black, Latinx and multiracial employees across the whole company. Additionally, representation of women and Black people increased at the leadership level. Despite those gains, Twitter is still 56.7% male and 41% white.

Uber wants drivers and delivery workers to get priority access to COVID-19 vaccine

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi sent a letter to all 50 governors asking them to prioritize giving drivers and delivery workers the vaccine as essential workers. In the letter, Khosrowshahi argues that the work of drivers and delivery people has become essential. That’s why Uber wants them to get the vaccine “quickly, easily and for free,” he wrote in the letter. Additionally, Uber has offered to help share information about the vaccine and encouraging those who are eligible to get vaccinated.

Apple was reportedly complicit in violating Chinese labor laws

Three former Apple Supplier Responsibility employees recently said the company did nothing when its suppliers violated the temporary worker labor law in China. That law required that no more than 10% of a factory’s workforce be temporary workers. According to The Information, Apple didn’t take action because it was worried about an increase in costs, a drain on resources and delays in product launches.

December 10, 2020

Uber wants drivers and delivery workers to get priority access to COVID-19 vaccine

Given how reliant many people have become on rideshare drivers and especially delivery workers during the pandemic, Uber is pushing for them to get priority access to the COVID-19 vaccine. Today, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi sent a letter to all 50 governors asking them to prioritize giving drivers and delivery workers the vaccine as essential workers.

“Over the last nine months, these workers have been a lifeline to their communities,” Khosrowshahi wrote in the letter. “They have transported healthcare workers to hospitals, delivered food to people socially distancing at home, and helped local restaurants stay in business.”

In the letter, Khosrowshahi argues that the work of drivers and delivery people has become essential. That’s why Uber wants them to get the vaccine “quickly, easily and for free,” he wrote in the letter. Additionally, Uber has offered to help share information about the vaccine and encouraging those who are eligible to get vaccinated.

“After nine months on the frontlines keeping their communities running, we are asking governors in all 50 states to prioritize drivers and delivery people for early vaccine access,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement to TechCrunch. “Uber stands ready to do everything we can—leveraging our technology, our logistical expertise and our resources—to help protect the people working on our platform and bring vaccines to the public as quickly and efficiently as possible.”

Khosrowshahi’s letter to governors is an addition to the one Uber sent one to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that advocated for the inclusion of non-health essential workers in the priority phase of distribution for the vaccine.

Uber’s advocating on behalf of workers comes amid an ongoing battle around how to classify rideshare drivers and delivery workers. Uber has long argued that its workers are not employees, while many gig workers have argued they are misclassified as independent contractors and should be entitled to the many labor rights that come with the employee classification.

December 10, 2020

With another $2.5 million in funding, Julia Collins’ Planet FWD launches climate-friendly snack brand

Planet FWD, the climate-friendly food startup founded by Zume co-founder Julia Collins, is today launching its first product, Moonshot Snacks. The climate-friendly snack is carbon neutral, organic, kosher, plant-based, non GMO and has no sugar added.

The crackers come in three flavors: sourdough sea salt rosemary garlic and tomato basil. A box of crackers costs $5.99.

Planet FWD is also announcing an additional $2.5 million in funding led by Emerson Collective, Concrete Rose, MCJ Collective and Arlan Hamilton, as well as existing investors, including BBG Ventures, January Ventures, and Kapor Capital among others. This is on top of the $2.7 million the startup announced earlier this year.

What’s unique about Planet FWD’s Moonshot Snacks is that it uses ingredients from farmers that use regenerative agriculture practices. Regenerative agriculture is a farming technique that aims to reverse the effects of climate change by capturing carbon in soil and aboveground biomass, which ultimately increases biodiversity, enriches soils and improves watersheds.

“We want to engage customers and show them they have the power to address climate change just with the way they eat,” Collins told TechCrunch. “We can use our food choices as a way to promote better farm management practices and company practices that can help decarbonize the environment.”

Ideally, Planet FWD will be able to show there’s consumer demand for climate-friendly products, Collins said. From there, she hopes that would encourage more farmers to implement these regenerative agriculture practices.

Unlike organic foods, where those specific farms are relatively well-known and identified, that can’t be said for regenerative agriculture. This is where the software element of Planet FWD comes in.

Additionally, Planet FWD is alpha testing a carbon impact assessment. So, if a brand wanted to determine what its current greenhouse gas impact is for its products, the tool could breakdown where it comes from — whether that’s the packaging, the ingredients, the distribution, etc. From there, the tool would recommend how to reduce the product’s greenhouse gas impact.

“Frankly, I think it’s a privilege to be alive and aware during this time where this is this window of opportunity to address climate change,” Collins said. “We can’t stop it. We can’t reverse it. But we can address it so it’s still possible for people to live on this planet. But the window is closing.”

Moonshot Snacks begins shipping today via its website. On December 16, it will be available via plastic-free grocery store Zero and will have a more traditional retail launch next year.

Planet FWD will create other products down the line, like cookies and chips. But first and foremost, the company’s roadmap is driven by the supply chain and understanding where there are opportunities to convert farms to regenerative practices.

“Through its sustainable and climate-friendly ingredient platform, Planet FWD is building a movement of more climate-conscious farmers and producers who can lead us toward a better, more sustainable future,” Fern Mandelbaum, Managing Director at Emerson Collective, said in a statement. “Through Julia’s inclusive leadership and passion, Planet FWD is helping create a new standard for the food industry and its role in being part of climate solutions.”

Zume co-founder goes from pizza to climate-friendly food with $2.7 million in funding

December 9, 2020

Google CEO says company will review events leading up to Dr. Timnit Gebru’s departure

Last week, Gebru said she was fired from the company after sending an email to her direct reports discussing how she was disappointed in her organization’s approach to DEI as well as the approval process around her research paper. Gebru sent that email after Google did not grant her permission to attach her and her colleagues names to an AI ethics paper about language models. Gebru had previously sent her superiors an email, detailing that if they would not meet her specific conditions she would prepare to leave. Google proceeded to tell her it accepted her resignation and cut off her access to her work email.

Google declined to comment but confirmed the memo is authentic. You can read the full memo over on Axios.

Pichai’s memo comes a couple of days after more than 2,000 Googlers and thousands of other supporters signed a letter standing with Gebru.

“Instead of being embraced by Google as an exceptionally talented and prolific contributor, Dr. Gebru has faced defensiveness, racism, gaslighting, research censorship, and now a retaliatory firing,” they wrote. “In an email to Dr. Gebru’s team on the evening of December 2, 2020, Google executives claimed that she had chosen to resign. This is false. In their direct correspondence with Dr. Gebru, these executives informed her that her termination was immediate, and pointed to an email she sent to a Google Brain diversity and inclusion mailing list as pretext.”

They went on to demand those who were involved in deciding how to treat Dr. Gebru’s paper meet with the Ethical AI team to explain what happened. They also demanded greater transparency around the decision-making, as well as a commitment from Google Research to research integrity and academic freedom.

December 5, 2020

Human Capital: Google’s labor stumbles

Welcome back to Human Capital, a weekly newsletter that looks at the latest in diversity and inclusion in tech, as well as labor.

This week, Google made headlines a couple of times for its workplace issues, while Coinbase found itself back in the news after the New York Times reported on alleged issues of racism and discrimination at the cryptocurrency startup. On the more positive side, however, Nasdaq proposed to the SEC some diversity requirements for public companies.

To get this sent directly to your inbox every Friday at 1 p.m. PT, be sure to sign up here.

Alleged racial discrimination at Coinbase

The week kicked off with news about cryptocurrency company Coinbase’s diversity issues. Specifically, the NYT reported a myriad of internal complaints alleging discriminatory treatment against Black employees. Here’s a key snippet from the story:

“The 15 people worked at Coinbase, the most valuable U.S. cryptocurrency start-up, where they represented roughly three-quarters of the Black employees at the 600-person company. Before leaving in late 2018 and early 2019, at least 11 of them informed the human resources department or their managers about what they said was racist or discriminatory treatment, five people with knowledge of the situation said.”

Before the article was published, Coinbase flagged the upcoming story for its employees, saying “only three of these people filed complaints during their time at Coinbase,” and that there was no evidence of any wrongdoing.

Pinterest faces lawsuit from shareholders alleging race and gender discrimination

Ben Silbermann (Pinterest) at TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2017

A group of shareholders filed a lawsuit against Pinterest executives, including CEO Ben Silbermann, alleging they enabled a culture of discrimination. The complaint also alleges that culture of discrimination has harmed Pinterest’s reputation and led to financial harm.

In a statement to Fast Company, Pinterest said:

“Pinterest’s leadership and Board take their fiduciary duties seriously and are committed to continuing our efforts to help ensure that Pinterest is a place where all of our employees feel included and supported,” said a Pinterest spokesperson when reached for comment. “We believe the actions we’ve initiated as well as the ongoing independent review regarding our culture, policies, and practices will help us achieve our goal of building a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment for everyone.”

NLRB alleges Google unlawfully surveilled employees and violated other labor laws

The National Labor Relations Board this week issued a complaint against Google after investigating the firing of several employees last November. The complaint alleges Google violated parts of the National Labor Relations Act by surveilling employees, and generally interfered with, restrained and coerced employees in the exercise of their rights guaranteed by Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act.

The NLRB also alleges Google discouraged “its employees from forming, joining, assisting a union or engaging in other protected, concerted activities,” the complaint states.

“Google has always worked to support a culture of internal discussion, and we place immense trust in our employees,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement to TechCrunch. “Of course employees have protected labor rights that we strongly support, but we have always taken information security very seriously. We’re confident in our decision and legal position. Actions undertaken by the employees at issue were a serious violation of our policies and an unacceptable breach of a trusted responsibility.”

Google’s co-lead of Ethical AI team says she was fired for sending an email

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – SEPTEMBER 07: Google AI Research Scientist Timnit Gebru speaks onstage during Day 3 of TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2018 at Moscone Center on September 7, 2018 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Kimberly White/Getty Images for TechCrunch)

Timnit Gebru, a leading researcher and voice in the field of ethics and artificial intelligence, says Google fired her for an email she sent to her direct reports. According to Gebru, Google fired her because of an email she sent to subordinates that the company said reflected “behavior that is inconsistent with the expectations of a Google manager.”

The email in question, obtained by Casey Newton, discussed how Gebru was disappointed in how her organization had, “After all this talk,” only hired 14% or so women this year, she wrote. She pointed to how Samy Bengio, who leads a group of researchers inside the Google Brain team, hired 39% women but that there is no incentive for him to do so. She added:

“What I want to say is stop writing your documents because it doesn’t make a difference. The DEI OKRs that we don’t know where they come from (and are never met anyways), the random discussions, the “we need more mentorship” rather than “we need to stop the toxic environments that hinder us from progressing” the constant fighting and education at your cost, they don’t matter. Because there is zero accountability. There is no incentive to hire 39% women: your life gets worse when you start advocating for underrepresented people, you start making the other leaders upset when they don’t want to give you good ratings during calibration. There is no way more documents or more conversations will achieve anything. We just had a Black research all hands with such an emotional show of exasperation. Do you know what happened since? Silencing in the most fundamental way possible.”

Gebru’s email also discussed issues with silencing marginalized voices, how her expertise has been dismissed and how she’s felt gaslighted by Google.

Instacart outlines its healthcare subsidies for workers in California

As part of Prop 22, gig workers promised healthcare subsidies for their workers. This week, Instacart provided some more detail on what that means in practice. TL;DR is that it will be available on a quarterly basis to shoppers who work an average of 15 hours or more per week.

Those who average between 15 to 25 hours per week will be eligible for 50% of the average contribution. Those that average 25 hours or more will be eligible for 100% of the average contribution.

But it’s important to note that those with employer-sponsored healthcare, Medicare and Medicaid are not eligible for subsidies.

Nasdaq wants to require diversity at the board level

Nasdaq filed a proposal with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to adopt new rules around diversity. If approved, the SEC would require companies listed on the Nasdaq to publicly report the diversity of its board of directors. The rule would also require many companies to have at least two diverse directors — one who self-identifies as female and one who self-identifies as either a person from an underrepresented minority group or as LGBTQ+. If a company does not meet that requirement, they would need to explain why.