Snap Inc., the company that operates Snapchat, has agreed to pay $15 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) alleging gender discrimination against women.
This lawsuit followed a three year extensive investigation into charges of gender bias, harassment and victimization against the women at Snap.
The investigation was carried out for the period 2015 and 2022 when the workforce at Snap expanded from 250 to over 5000 employees. In this period, CRD claimed that female employees were not provided with equal pay and promotion opportunities as their male counterparts.
Women engineers in particular, faced significant difficulties and were often overlooked for promotions in favor of less qualified male colleagues.
The investigation found that women at Snap were subjected to unwanted sexual advances and other forms of harassment. Such matters when reported, often backfired with negative performance reviews, denials of promotions or even termination following suit.
The analysis conducted by CRD showed a culture where women were commonly treated as second-class citizens.
Even though Snap denied having systemic problems related to wage inequality, discrimination, or harassment, the company decided to settle to avoid the high costs and time-consuming process of litigation.
As per its statement, Snap stressed its commitment towards maintaining an equitable working environment and explained that settling was in the best interest of the company’s future.
Under the terms of settlement, $14.5 million will go to women who worked at Snap between 2014 and 2024.
Furthermore, Snap has put some measures in place which will help in avoiding future cases related to discrimination and harassment.
Going forward, an independent consultant will make a review of compensation policies and promotion as well as offer recommendations for improvement.
A third-party monitor will also audit Snap’s compliance with sexual harassment, retaliation, and discrimination policies and report its findings to the CRD.
Employees at snap will undergo full course training on their rights at the workplace to prevent any form of sexual harassment or labor discrimination. Additionally, they will be taught how to report those kind of concerns without any fear.
According to Kevin Kish, the Director of CRD, this settlement is a big step towards ensuring fair treatment for all California workers. He also noted the importance of the state’s civil rights laws in safeguarding workers and promoting equality.
Snap’s working environment has been called into question before. A former software engineer referred to the company as “sexist” and “toxic”. In response to these criticisms, Snap launched an internal investigation into racism and sexism in 2020 and published its first diversity report that year.
Snap’s decision to accept external monitoring and independent audits was aimed at rebuilding trust among employees by creating a more equittable workplace.
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