My Open Letter Response: Facebook Empowers Racism Against Its Employees of Color.
Facebook still has a black people problem. And a problem with individual contributors who are not white.
To all the brave souls who came forth to share their experiences in this article, I commend you for your bravery and hope that I can help corroborate your experiences. I know why you are scared not only for your physical safety, but for the retaliatory acts that may ensue from speaking out, because I was in your shoes. I worked for FACEBOOK for 3 years, within Human Resources department, and know all too well the stories of discrimination, oppression, bullying, and marginalization, because I lived it.
In all fairness, many of the macro/micro-aggressions that were shared only provided a snapshot in time of the hostile work environment that FACEBOOK has curated for the POC population . Please know that this is far from the complete picture of what is really going on within the walls of FACEBOOK. Many, POCs face daily and even an hourly barrage of microaggressions that are laced with physiological and emotional abuse to intentionally destroy the psyche. When I reflect on my time there, I liken my experience to what I like to call modern day slavery. While I never suffered a physical attack (or a whipping), I was consistently exploited for my work and suffered psychological attacks for being a woman of color and disabled. There is no one internally, that a POC could turn to for help, because the system is designed to intentionally not support the POC population. Many of the HRBPs and ERBPs are the actual henchmen for the business and are the primary aggressors of this abuse. So, reporting any discriminatory/biased treatment to HR will brand you with a scarlet letter that will follow you and negatively impact your career or lead to termination. These stories are in fact are not isolated incidents, but rather the norm for any POC that works within FACEBOOK’s walls. The work environment is so hostile that a POC must conceal their misery because not doing so will lead to further harassment and questioning from Caucasian peers and management. What makes this so egregious, is that many people are trapped at FACEBOOK and have no way to escape the situation. POCs at FACEBOOK are forced to smile and “take it” because leaving is not an option. In fact, it is my belief, that many tech companies speak the game of diversity and use the most current buzz words like “move the needle” but are truly disingenuous. Truth be told, Silicon Valley is not welcoming and warming to the POC job seeker and the job market is the antithesis of true diversity and inclusion. By not having the ability to leave this hostile situation, this turns into an extremely dangerous situation for the POC’s physical and mental health
In corroboration, with the experiences that were listed by the 12 current and past employees, I hope to add some further transparency and pull back the veil to illustrate the abuses they endure daily, with my own documented examples.
- I was the only FTE women of color on the Compliance Team for almost 2 years and was not allowed to take time off for doctor’s appointments or even extended vacation as my Caucasian counterparts were allowed to do who were hired after me.
- I was told by my manager to no longer “bring my authentic self to work because no one likes it.”
- I lost all my promotional opportunities because I needed a disability accommodation, despite not having performance issues and having received an “exceeds” rating.
- I discovered that FACEBOOK won a disability award with my Accommodations work and rather than give me credit, they punished me with a negative performance review of “meets most”. Ultimately, I had to file 4 internal investigations for discriminatory and retaliatory treatment against 3 Caucasian managers.
- One of the managers who gave me the negative review that I had to fight, left FACEBOOK and now works for my old company, Amazon. This person fraudulently stole my experience and misrepresented themselves as building the accommodations program and policy for FACEBOOK.
- I was expected to manage the budget for the department, but I was not allowed to have access to the budget, and I would only be sent screen shots of any information.
- I was told by a Global VP, after telling them of the discrimination that I faced and observed in their department that, “it doesn’t sound like FACEBOOK is a good fit for you and maybe you should leave.”
- Screamed at by an ERBP and was asked, “why are you still here”, “who likes you here”, “name people who like you”, and lastly “why am I never happy”. After, the ERBP’s tantrum I calmly expressed how disappointed I was that an HR professional would ever display this type of behavior after what the VP said to me. I communicated to the ERBP that I no longer felt welcomed not only within the department, but the company.
- After this report, all my work was taken away by FACEBOOK management and I was forced to sit at my desk and stare at the computer for 8 hours a day. During this time no one from the 30-person team that i sat on would sit near me either, so I was isolated and alone. I became fearful for my safety and was too scared to call the Menlo Park police so I called the Fremont police non-emergency number to see when it is appropriate to call 911 to assist with work-related issues due to extreme bullying.
- Reported observed and my own discrimination for the 4th time in February and was terminated by May. I was terminated for alleged “performance” issues, but FACEBOOK went outside of their normal performance review process and terminated me after a mid-cycle meeting and never officially put me on a performance improvement plan (PIP). Even when I asked for specifics of alleged performance concerns, managers would not articulate or provide tangible evidence and would change the subject.
I too have made attempts to make complaints against FACEBOOK with the appropriate governmental agencies, the EEOC and DFEH as well as reached out to the Press about this story. I have called for the Government to conduct a full OFCCP audit of FACEBOOK which would investigate all the internal complaints and will either suspend or take away their federal contractor status, with no response from Governmental Officials. I have concluded that the only way to incite change will be through a grass-roots effort since the Government and The Press are apathetic to this situation.
This is a message to all the FACEBOOK employees who are suffering, know that I see you, I hear you, and I understand the torment and injustices you are going through on a daily basis. I will stand united with you, on the outside, and will do all that I can to continue to fight for attention and change. Stay strong and united!
