Ex-ByteDance workers say company retaliated after discrimination complaint
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The TikTok logo at the company's headquarters in Singapore on Sept. 7. Photo: Roslan Rahman / AFP via Getty Images
Two former ByteDance employees are accusing TikTok's parent company of retaliating against them after filing complaints.
Driving the news: Nnete Matima and Joël Carter filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Thursday, alleging they were fired last month for making complaints of racial discrimination at ByteDance.
- The EEOC is the federal agency tasked with investigating workplace discrimination claims and, if warranted, taking legal action.
Zoom in: The former employees claim that when they formally complained about discrimination and disparaging comments they faced from their managers, TikTok denied it, failed to stop it from continuing and later terminated them from their jobs.
- Matima and Carter also allege in the EEOC complaint that TikTok has engaged in similar retaliation against other people of color and that "the company has no tolerance for dissent within its ranks."
- The emotional harm they experienced "was very severe," the workers' legal counsel, Peter Romer-Friedman, told Axios. "One of the reasons why we filed a class action complaint is we really want TikTok to reform its practices so that no one has to go through this kind of suffering again."
What they're saying: Matima and Carter both said in a statement that they filed the complaint to prevent others from experiencing similar abuse.
- Matima, who worked as a business development representative for the company's Slack-like app Lark, said that from day one, she "was treated worse than my white colleagues."
- "When I told TikTok that my managers were discriminating against me, I was retaliated against in so many ways, my managers called me a 'Black Snake,' and TikTok terminated me," Matima said in the statement. "It was an absolute nightmare."
- Carter, who worked as a policy manager for TikTok's ad policy team, said "TikTok fosters fear and silence among its own workers," adding that the leadership "pursues growth at all costs, even if it means discriminating and retaliating against Black professionals like me."
The other side: "We take employee concerns very seriously, and have strong policies in place that prohibit discrimination, harassment, and retaliation in the workplace," a TikTok spokesperson told Axios in an email. "As an organization, we have a strong record of championing diversity and inclusion."
Go deeper: Why TikTok retains its popularity, despite users having security concerns
