‘That’s an awful feeling’: Former Meta employee of Indian origin files complaint against the company for alleged racial bias

Meta is being sued for racial discrimination against Asians by a Singaporean techie. Vaishnavi Jayakumar, 36, has filed a complaint against Meta Platforms at California’s Civil Rights Department for racial bias that cost her promotions and work opportunities. Jayakumar joined Meta back in January 2020 as Instagram's head of safety and well-being policy, after stints at Disney, Google, and Twitter.

At Meta, her job on the youth policy team was to protect children and teens from bullying, harassment, and other forms of abuse.

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Jayakumar told USA Today that her supervisor at Meta did not give her opportunities and initiatives that were in scope of her job. She accused him of “layering” her under less experienced employees. In the complaint, she stated that she was repeatedly denied promotions despite years of experience and positive feedback.

As per her complaint, she was told that she was not senior or collaborative enough to be promoted. She added that her workload increased with time but her performance ratings declined.

She told USA Today, “I've never felt more keenly that as an Asian woman, I'm destined to be a worker, I'm not destined to be a leader. And that’s an awful feeling”.

In her complaint, she has even proposed changes that could keep racial bias at the company in check. She suggested keeping track of rates of promotions for Asian Americans and making managers more aware of the stereotypes and biases through training.

Meta announced its first round of layoffs in November last year, when CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that 13 per cent of employees at the company would be laid off. Zuckerberg then made a similar announcement in March noting that the next round of layoffs would impact 10,000 employees globally.

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