HomeTechnologyUber’s Diversity Chief Put on Leave After Complaints of Insensitivity - UnlistedNews

Uber’s Diversity Chief Put on Leave After Complaints of Insensitivity – UnlistedNews

Uber has put its longtime head of diversity, equity and inclusion on furlough after workers complained that an employee event she moderated, titled “Don’t Call Me Karen,” was insensitive to people of color. .

Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s chief executive, and Nikki Krishnamurthy, chief people officer, last week asked Bo Young Lee, chief diversity officer, “to step back and take a leave of absence while we determine next steps,” according to an email. on Thursday from Ms. Krishnamurthy to some employees which was seen by The New York Times.

“We have heard that many of you are sore and upset by yesterday’s Avanzar session,” the email said. “While it was meant to be a dialogue, it is obvious that those who attended did not feel heard.”

Employee concerns centered on a pair of events, one last month and one last Wednesday, billed as “diving into the spectrum of the white American woman experience” and hearing from white women who work in Uber, with a focus on “the ‘Karen’ character.” They were intended to be an “open and honest conversation about race,” according to the invitation.

But the workers instead felt they were being lectured about the difficulties experienced by white women and why “Karen” was a derogatory term and that Ms Lee dismissed their concerns, according to messages sent on Slack, a social media tool. workplace messaging, which were seen by The Times.

The term Karen has become slang for a white woman with a sense of entitlement who often complains to a manager and reports black people and other racial minorities to the authorities. Employees felt event organizers were downplaying racism and the harm whites can inflict on people of color by focusing on how “Karen” is a hurtful word, according to the messages and an employee who attended the events. A prominent “Karen” incident occurred in 2020, when Amy Cooper, a white woman, called 911 after a black man bird-watching in New York’s Central Park asked her to put her dog on a leash. .

The concerns raised about the events underscored the difficulties companies face navigating issues of race and identity that have become increasingly hot topics in Silicon Valley and beyond. Culture clashes over race and LGBTQ rights have come to the forefront of workplaces in recent years, including renewed attention to discrimination in company hiring practices and the dispute between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Disney on a state law limiting classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation.

At Uber, the incident was also a rare case of employee dissent under Khosrowshahi, who has steered the company away from the aggressive and chaotic culture that prevailed under former CEO Travis Kalanick. Mr. Khosrowshahi’s efforts included increased diversity initiatives under the direction of Ms. Lee, who has led the effort since 2018. Before joining Uber, she held similar positions at financial services firm Marsh McLennan and other companies, according to your LinkedIn profile.

“I can confirm that Bo is currently on leave,” Noah Edwardsen, an Uber spokesman, said in a statement. Ms. Lee did not respond to a request for comment.

The first of two Don’t Call Me Karen events, in April, was part of a series called Moving Forward: Discussions of Race and the Experiences of Underrepresented Groups That Came Up After the Black Lives Matter Protests in 2020.

Several weeks after that first event, a black woman asked during an Uber meeting how the company would prevent “deaf, offensive, trigger-happy conversations” from becoming part of its diversity initiatives.

Ms. Lee responded to the question, arguing that the Moving Forward series was meant to have difficult conversations and not to be comfortable.

“Sometimes getting kicked out of your own strategic ignorance is the right thing to do,” he said, according to notes taken by an employee who attended the event. The comment sparked further outrage from employees and complaints to executives, according to messages from Slack and the employee.

The second of the two events, led by Ms. Lee, was intended to be a dialogue where the workers discussed what they had heard in the previous meeting.

But in Slack groups for black and Hispanic employees at Uber, workers were infuriated because instead of being given the opportunity to provide feedback or have a dialogue, they were lectured about their response to the initial Don’t call me Karen event.

“I felt like I was being scolded throughout the entire meeting,” wrote one employee.

Another employee took issue with the premise that the term Karen should not be used.

“I think when people are called Karens, it’s implied that they’re someone who has little empathy for others or is annoyed by minorities that don’t look like them. Why can’t you report bad behavior? she wrote.

Employees received the news that Ms. Lee was leaving as a sign that Uber leaders were taking their complaints seriously.

One employee wrote that company executives “have listened to us, they know we are suffering, and they also want to understand what happened.”

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Sara Marcus
Sara Marcushttps://unlistednews.com
Meet Sara Marcus, our newest addition to the Unlisted News team! Sara is a talented author and cultural critic, whose work has appeared in a variety of publications. Sara's writing style is characterized by its incisiveness and thought-provoking nature, and her insightful commentary on music, politics, and social justice is sure to captivate our readers. We are thrilled to have her join our team and look forward to sharing her work with our readers.
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