''TikTok fired Black workers for speaking out about racism that included lower pay and being called a ‘black snake’, civil rights complaint alleges'', 21 Sep 2023

TikTok’s parent company was accused of racism and retaliation by Black former employees in a complaint to US civil rights enforcers alleging ByteDance terminated them because they spoke up against discrimination.

A woman who worked in sales for the company says she was forced to pursue low-quality leads rather than the more promising ones she had developed herself, and that several supervisors including a vice president referred to her as a “black snake.” A man who was on TikTok’s advertising team said he was wrongly assigned a lower level and salary than White co-workers with equivalent credentials, and denied credit for his own accomplishments and ideas.

The complaint they filed Thursday with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which enforces federal workplace anti-discrimination laws, comes as technology companies have faced years of criticism over slowness to improve their hiring and treatment of women and underrepresented minorities...

“We take employee concerns very seriously, and have strong policies in place that prohibit discrimination, harassment, and retaliation in the workplace,” a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement. “As an organization, we have a strong record of championing diversity and inclusion.”

...Both workers say they were the only Black employees in their roles for the majority of their time there, and that they after they filed internal complaints, management “refused to adequately investigate their claims and turned their fury” on them instead, ultimately firing them. The company’s behavior shows that it “has no tolerance for dissent within its ranks,” according to the filing...