The corporation, on the other hand, asserts that it does not have a problem with harassment or the gender divide in pay.
It has been disclosed by the California Civil Rights Department that Snap Inc. has reached an agreement to pay $15 million in order to settle the case that it filed “over alleged discrimination, harassment, and retaliation against women at the company.” A civil rights body in the state of California began an investigation into the firm that is responsible for Snapchat more than three years ago due to allegations that the company discriminated against female employees and retaliated against them. Despite experiencing a period of substantial expansion between the years 2015 and 2022, the agency claimed that the corporation had failed to ensure that female employees were paid equally.
It is stated that women, particularly those working in engineering positions, were discouraged from applying for promotions and, when they did apply, they were passed over by male colleagues who had fewer qualifications. In addition, the agency stated that they were subjected to unwanted sexual advances and that they were threatened with reprisal whenever they spoke up. Negative performance reports were provided to female employees, opportunities were denied to them, and ultimately, they were fired from their jobs by the company.
In a statement, the Director of the California Research and Development Centre, Kevin Kish, stated, “In California, we are proud of the work of our state’s innovators who are a driving force of our nation’s economy.” The robustness of our state’s civil rights laws is another thing that we are proud of. These laws serve to ensure that every worker is protected from discrimination and has the opportunity to prosper. Having reached this resolution with Snapchat, it is clear that both parties are committed to a state of California in which every worker has an equal opportunity to achieve the American Dream. In every employment, in every workplace, and in every industry, women have the right to be treated equally.
Snapchat has dismissed allegations that the company is experiencing problems with pay inequity and sexual discrimination. Politico and Bloomberg received a statement from the company stating that the only reason it made the decision to settle was because of the costs and impact of a lengthy battle. “At Snap, we are highly committed to upholding our commitment to a fair and inclusive environment, and we do not think that we have any ongoing systemic concerns pertaining to pay equity, discrimination, harassment, or retaliation against women. We took into consideration the cost and impact of lengthy litigation, as well as the scope of the CRD’s other settlements, and came to the conclusion that it is in the best interest of the company to resolve these claims and focus on the future, despite the fact that we disagreed with the claims and analyses that were presented by the California Civil Rights Department.
An additional $14.5 million of the total sum will be allocated to women who worked as workers at Snap Inc. in the state of California between the years 2014 and 2024, as stipulated under the conditions of the settlement, which are still subject to approval by a judge. As an additional requirement, the organization will be obliged to have a third-party monitor conduct an audit of its compliance with sexual harassment, retaliation, and discrimination policies.
The California Department of Civil Rights was the same agency that filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard in 2021, accusing the business of cultivating a “frat boy” culture that enabled widespread misogyny and sexual harassment. In addition, the agency discovered that women working for the corporation were not given the same opportunities for advancement and were paid less than their male counterparts. Late in the year 2023, it reached a settlement with the video game maker for the amount of $54 million; nevertheless, it was required to remove its claims that there was rampant sexual harassment at the respective company.