After a scandal involving Google, now Facebook has become the target of an investigation by a US agency accused of committing systemic racism in the selection of its employees. A Reuters report heard from lawyers representing three job applicants and a manager who said they were discriminated against by Mark Zuckerberg's company.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) typically resolves its cases through mediation, but when a systemic problem is raised—which would be the racial discrimination generalized –, specialists are recruited to analyze the company's data and, eventually, lead to the opening of a broader process.

the accusation

Oscar Veneszee Jr., Facebook's operations program manager, was responsible for reporting racism against the company in July 2020, alongside two candidates who were unsuccessful in their job searches due to racial issues. A third candidate, also allegedly rejected for the same reason, joined the lawsuit in December.

“We have a Black problem. We set goals to increase diversity at the company, but we have failed to create a culture at the company that finds, grows and retains Black people,” Veneszee said, exposing the hidden racism in Facebook’s policy.

According to the plaintiffs, Facebook “discriminates against Black applicants and employees based on subjective assessments and promoting problematic racial stereotypes.” Peter Romer-Friedman, an attorney at Gupta Wessler who is representing Veneszee and the other plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said the EEOC has received detailed briefing documents from both sides over the past four months.

According to the attorney, the EEOC’s offices in Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Washington are working on the case, with representatives from other labor law firms, Mehri & Skalet and Katz Marshall & Banks, assisting. Romer-Friedman also said that one of Facebook’s policies is to give employees bonuses of up to $5.000 when a candidate they recommend is hired. The candidates they recommend tend to reflect the makeup of the existing workforce, disadvantaging Black employees, he said, in a move that would amount to racism on Facebook’s part.

The Facebook side

Andy Stone, a spokesman for the company, said that Facebook “takes any allegations of discrimination and investigates all cases,” and that “it is essential to provide all employees with a respectful and safe work environment.” Covington & Burling, which is responsible for Facebook’s defense, declined to comment.

According to data obtained by Reuters, Facebook had the equivalent of 3,9% black employees as of July last year. The lawsuit by racism This isn’t the only recent case in which Facebook has found itself included. In December 2020, the Department of Justice accused the company of discriminating against American workers by giving preference to hiring temporary workers, such as H-1B visa holders.

Through which channels you reach those people, classic and out of the box. NPR
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