SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Former Chief
Operating Officer of Pinterest, Ms. Francoise Brougher, filed a lawsuit
CGC-20-585888 against Pinterest, alleging gender discrimination,
wrongful termination and retaliation. The suit alleges the
following: While 70% of Pinterest users are women, the company is
run by three men, and gender bias is prevalent in the C-Suite. Even
as the highest-ranking woman in the company and head of operations,
Ms. Brougher was expected to be compliant and conform to gender
stereotypes. When she refused to take a back seat to her male
peers, she was marginalized and excluded from important meetings
and decisions. And when she objected to the CFO treating her in a
demeaning and sexist way, she was fired. The termination of Ms.
Brougher's employment demonstrates that gender bias still girds a
glass ceiling at Pinterest and that calling out discrimination
comes with a heavy price, even for the most senior female
executives.
Ms. Brougher served as Pinterest's Chief Operating Officer for
two years, accelerating revenue growth and helping to take the
company public during its IPO. She oversaw a large staff with
dozens of people reporting to her. The suit also alleges: Yet when
she started at the company, she was offered a less favorable
compensation (vesting) structure than the other C-level male
executives. Additionally, whereas men were rewarded for strong
leadership, as a woman Ms. Brougher was held to a different
standard. She was criticized for demonstrating the same traits and
criticized for not being collaborative. Even though she was the
Chief Operating Officer, she was not invited to the IPO Road Show
or to subsequent board meetings, which is unusual for the COO of a
public company.
The suit also alleges: When Pinterest Chief Financial
Officer, Mr. Todd Morgenfeld, made a
demeaning and sexist comment to her, Ms. Brougher complained to the
head of Human Resources and to the Chief Executive Officer, Mr.
Ben Silbermann. She hoped the
company would help to remedy the hostile work environment she
experienced, but instead the CEO fired her over a video call.
Pinterest then attempted to cover up Ms. Brougher's complaints,
telling staff that her firing was a voluntary
departure.
"Pinterest broke the law by firing Ms. Brougher after she
complained about gender discrimination and a hostile work
environment," said Ms. Brougher's attorney, David A. Lowe, Partner at Rudy Exelrod Zieff
& Lowe. "Ms. Brougher's story reveals an often unspoken
experience for women who reach the top of their fields. Even after
they achieve a high position and earn a seat at the table, they are
still held to different standards of behavior and expected to defer
to male peers. Ms. Brougher is bringing this case to shine a light
on gender bias and retaliation in the C-Suite."
In her recent op-ed, The Pinterest Paradox: Cupcakes and
Toxicity, Ms. Brougher details her experience at Pinterest.
"Gender discrimination at the executive level may be more
subtle, but it is insidious and very real," said Ms. Brougher. "I
believed Pinterest would judge me based on my job performance. But
instead I was treated unfairly because of my gender. I'm speaking
out because I want to be part of the hard work of dismantling
systems of gender bias that punish women for the type of strong
leadership rewarded in men and that impedes female leaders' ability
to be successful."
Ms. Brougher has been a technology executive for the past twenty
years after arriving in the United
States on a student visa. She was previously an executive at
Charles Schwab, Google, and Square. Ms. Brougher is also an engaged
member of Sodexo's Board, a French multinational operating in over
70 countries.
Contact:
Press Inquiries
Simone
Jackenthal
Trident DMG
+ 1-202-923-5296
sjackenthal@tridentdmg.com
Lawsuit Inquiries
David
Lowe
Rudy, Exelrod, Zieff & Lowe, LLP
+1-415-394-6078
dal@rezlaw.com
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SOURCE Rudy, Exelrod, Zieff & Lowe