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A former Facebook employee is suing the company for gender discrimination, race discrimination, harassment, and other allegations. The lawsuit, filed at the San Mateo County Superior Court, names Chia Hong as the plaintiff and Facebook as the defendant. According to the court document, Hong started working at Facebook in 2010. She alleges that Facebook fired her in 2013 for submitting a complaint against her boss, a certain Anil Wilson.
In 2010, Facebook hired Hong as a program manager. She was later promoted to a bigger position as technology partner, where she was harassed and discriminated for being a woman and a Taiwanese. Hong claims that her boss punished her for taking some allowed time off to volunteer for her child at school. She also claims that she was ordered to organize parties and service drinks to her male colleagues—a task that male workers at Facebook were never told to do.
Hong said that her performance at Facebook were all positive; she even got a raise and stock options for her work. When Facebook terminated her job, Hong said that she underwent emotional distress and mental pain. Hong is represented by the San Francisco law firm, Lawless and Lawless, the same firm representing Ellen Pao, the interim CEO of Reddit who is suing Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers for similar allegations.
The lawsuit is an omen in the technology industry. Analysts are saying that the Ellen Pao case will encourage other women to break the silence. Around 85 percent of Facebook’s workers are men, and 77 percent of them are in the management level. A Facebook representative said that the company is making progress on issues pertaining to diversity and gender equality. The company disagrees with the facts, adding that Chia Hong was treated fairly.
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