Pinterest settled the gender discrimination lawsuit by former COO Francoise Brougher. The company will pay Brougher $20 million as part of the settlement agreement.

Brougher and Pinterest will both commit $2.5 million to be used towards “advancing women and underrepresented communities” in the tech industry.

They issued a statement outlining their settlement agreement: 

“Pinterest recognizes the importance of fostering a workplace environment that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive and will continue its actions to improve its culture.”

“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.”

Discrimination lawsuit and walkout spur changes 

In May, Aerica Shimizu Banks and Ifeoma Ozoma, both black women left Pinterest. They served as managers and leaders of the company's public policy team. Both women claimed their experience at the company was a nightmare of  racism and “glaringly unfair pay, intense discrimination, and terrifying retaliation.”

In June, CEO Ben Silberman apologized for the toxic workplace and said the company was conducting a full investigation into the culture and policies.

“What I’ve learned over the past few weeks is that parts of our culture are broken. Truthfully, I didn’t understand just how much work we have to do. That’s not an excuse, that’s a failure in leadership, and I’m truly sorry for letting you down. I’m grateful that so many of you had the courage to share your experiences honestly and openly,” Silberman said in a statement

Ex-COO Brougher filed her lawsuit in August. She alleged gender discrimination, wrongful termination, and retaliation.

The company's employees staged a walkout in support of Brougher, Banks, and Ozoma on August 14. It was a virtual event due to the techno-pandemic with most employees working from home. They also posted a petition demanding that Pinterest change its policies and become more inclusive in the workplace.

Employees demanded full transparency about promotion levels and retention, and compensation package transparency. They also demanded that more women and underrepresented employees should be hired in management.

“I am so proud. Pinterest does not have a culture of pushing back and demanding accountability. The fact that this is happening, that they are doing this now is huge,” Ifeoma Ozoma said in USA Today.

Since the lawsuit and walkout, Pinterest implemented changes at the level of the board. The company appointed a Black woman Andrea Wishom as a board member.   In October, it added a Black man, Salaam Coleman Smith to its Board.

It also made progress in its interviewing and hiring process to meet new diversity goals and updated its inclusion training. In order to achieve more transparency, the company launched a wiki internally that details its compensation decisions.

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