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BornAPoorBlkChild
Sep 24, 2012
http://techcrunch.com/2016/03/15/squarespace-former-employee-alleges-overt-racism/

quote:

Former Squarespace employee alleges ‘overt’ racism
Accounts of racism, sexism and discrimination are unfortunately way too common in the tech industry. The latest comes from Amélie Lamont, a black woman and former employee at website creation company Squarespace, who was fired after slapping a co-worker at a bar.

Lamont was a customer care supervisor at Squarespace from September 2011 through February 2014. Squarespace, founded in 2004, has raised $78.5 million in funding from investors like Accel Partners, Index Ventures and General Atlantic.

The story, which she shared on Medium in a post titled “Not a Black Chair,” compares the customer care department to high school and touches on an office romance, the time she slapped a co-worker after he touched her at bar, and a lawsuit that was ultimately dismissed. Lamont filed the lawsuit in August 2015 after she was fired. She says she filed a claim alleging that she was coerced into signing a severance agreement, saying that she signed it immediately upon receiving it. That actually turned out not to be true.

“I misremembered, and had actually been given the agreement the day before,” Lamont wrote on Medium. “I had 24 hours to look it over before signing it, and thus my case against Squarespace dissolved.”

Still, Lamont says she experienced racism while working at Squarespace, and says the company has not owned up to its mistake, she wrote on Medium. Among the alleged slights are racism, discrimination and sexism. Here’s the most damning part, in which Lamont describes an interaction that happened at a weekly supervisor’s meeting with the VP of customer care:

Amélie Lamont's blog on Medium posted:

She stared at me for a few seconds and remarked, “Oh. I didn’t see you. You blended in. You’re so black, you blend into the chair.” I didn’t believe what I was hearing and I didn’t know what to do. I looked at my arm, compared it to the chair in front of her.

“Nope, my arm is brown and the chair is black,” I quipped awkwardly.

She replied, “No. They’re the same color.”

Despite Lamont’s actions, there is no excuse for what the VP of customer care allegedly said about her blending into the chair because she’s “so black.”

“The racism I experienced at Squarespace was overt and documented,” Lamont wrote. “There’s no way to sugarcoat, ‘you’re so black, you blend into the chair.’ I even tried to redeem the situation by giving the VP of Customer Care a chance to backpedal. She chose not to.”

When I asked Squarespace about the alleged racism and discrimination, a spokesperson provided the following statement:

Squarespace posted:

While it is our policy not to comment on HR issues involving current or former employees, we can confirm that Squarespace has long-standing policies against harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. Our workplace integrity is of the utmost importance and we take any such allegations very seriously. We work tirelessly to maintain an open and safe work environment here at Squarespace.

Lamont published her story late last night. Since then, another black female, Stephanie Duncker, who formerly worked at Squarespace, has chimed in on her experience.

“The entire time I worked at Squarespace, I was convinced my work wasn’t good enough, that it would be impossible to get another job, that I had to stay and put up with the nonsense b/c just paying back the moving bonus (~$2000) would set me back too far,” Duncker wrote on Medium. “My self-worth plummeted and I too had to start seeing a therapist.”

Squarespace’s overall rating on Glassdoor is a 4.4 out 5 stars, with 87 percent of employees saying they would recommend the company to a friend. Of the 73 employee reviews of Squarespace on Glassdoor, 10 gave the company a rating of two stars or less. Six of those 10 ratings came from people who were part of the customer care team — the same team Lamont worked with. One of those reviews cites the cons as no growth with promotions handled “by and with sympathy, favoritism and just by having a cheerleader attitude (remember to repeat frequently that all is f*** awesome).”

On the flip side, a top rating says a pro of working at Squarespace is that there’s a lot of room to grow. Though, I wonder how many of those ratings came from people of color.

Women, women of color and people of color in general are more at risk of facing challenges and discrimination in the workplace than their white, male counterparts. That’s due in part to the fact that tech companies are predominantly white and male, and that there are a lot of unconscious and conscious biases constantly at play. Squarespace has not released a diversity report, but Duncker wrote in her piece that there was only one black employee at the Squarespace office in Portland when she worked at the company.

Regarding what happens next, or, what Lamont would like to happen, she’s “more interested in this being used as a platform for other people to find the courage to speak up,” Lamont told me via email. “Stephanie Duncker is a great example–proof of the toxic environment that companies create for employees of color well. I’m honestly not sure of how to continue and build this platform beyond pushing a ‘publish’ button.”

You can read Lamont’s full story on Medium.



"TECHBROOSSSS!!! :argh:"

you cry out to the heavens to an impotent and non-existant god

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JiveHonky
May 12, 2001

by zen death robot
Grimey Drawer
thats racial!

Oh Don Piano
Nov 4, 2009
I don't want to look at that.

Macnult
Jul 7, 2013

The glass ceiling is real.

Jerry Mumphrey
Mar 11, 2004

by zen death robot

(and can't post for 4 years!)

can't break the glass ceiling without rear end feeling

a star war betamax
Sep 17, 2011

by Lowtax
Gary’s Answer
Whoa I can't believe someone commented on another person's skin shade in a jocular way between friends! Goodness gracious! What is nexxt??? Lynchings in the parking lot?

Burt Sexual
Jan 26, 2006

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Switchblade Switcharoo
Race realist my dick

FlimFlam Imam
Mar 1, 2007

Standing on a hill in my mountain of dreams
Oh that poor chair :ohdear:

Enfield
May 30, 2011

by Nyc_Tattoo
im not reading that you stupid rear end in a top hat

Smoking_Dragon
Dec 12, 2001

WOE UNTO THEE
Pillbug

Race Realists posted:

She stared at me for a few seconds and remarked, “Oh. I didn’t see you. You blended in. You’re so black, you blend into the chair.” I didn’t believe what I was hearing and I didn’t know what to do. I looked at my arm, compared it to the chair in front of her.

“Nope, my arm is brown and the chair is black,” I quipped awkwardly.

She replied, “No. They’re the same color.”

This never happened.

Commie NedFlanders
Mar 8, 2014

Smoking_Dragon posted:

This never happened.

actually it happens all the time

bag em and tag em
Nov 4, 2008
White people. Bad.

a star war betamax
Sep 17, 2011

by Lowtax
Gary’s Answer

Commie NedFlanders posted:

actually it happens all the time

GBS posts?

glowstick party tonight
Oct 4, 2003

by zen death robot
Sounds like she will never be the head of a major tech company

ate shit on live tv
Feb 15, 2004

by Azathoth

RedMage129 posted:

White people. Bad.

Whoa, racist much?

Smoking_Dragon
Dec 12, 2001

WOE UNTO THEE
Pillbug

I was thinking poorly thought out insults/jokes that make no sense and aren't funny.

Vincent Van Goatse
Nov 8, 2006

Enjoy every sandwich.

Smellrose

Smoking_Dragon posted:

This never happened.

I've heard people say dumber things, so I can believe this happened. That's completely separate from whether it actually did happen, of course.

Booblord Zagats
Oct 30, 2011


Pork Pro
When I was in college I also worked as a corrections officer. We got this super attractive Cuban girl that started working there as a admin assistant and I heard one of the older guys try to tell her she was pretty in the most uncomfortable way, he compared her to the aliens from Avatar because she was super-leggy and tall with an exotic look. She just got really weirded out and I just pretended to need her help with a form to help her get out of the conversation. Guy who said it was nice, but some guys just say dumb creepy poo poo without any idea.

bag em and tag em
Nov 4, 2008

Powercrazy posted:

Whoa, racist much?

Impossible. I have a friend who is white.

epsilon
Oct 31, 2001


Smoking_Dragon posted:

This never happened.

I take it you're white.

JakeP
Apr 27, 2003

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Lipstick Apathy
that bllack chick sounds hot as heck

Fishy Joe
Apr 19, 2005
Eat at Fishy Joe's
Black Samsonite the hot new film starring Jaleel White

Hector Beerlioz
Jun 16, 2010

aw, hec
I am outraged

Smoking_Dragon
Dec 12, 2001

WOE UNTO THEE
Pillbug

epsilon posted:

I take it you're white.

If she called the woman a "dumb friend of the family" or something I'd totally believe that but the dialogue she claims is just so awkward and bizarre I can't imagine it happening in real life.

Hatebag
Jun 17, 2008


Your skin is as pretty as this nougahyde couch. My loins ache for knowledge of your jungle rhythms.

epsilon
Oct 31, 2001


Smoking_Dragon posted:

If she called the woman a "dumb friend of the family" or something I'd totally believe that but the dialogue she claims is just so awkward and bizarre I can't imagine it happening in real life.

That's because you're a sheltered idiot.

AdolfHitler
Mar 21, 2009
lets see her say that poo poo to my face

je1 healthcare
Sep 29, 2015
Ahh the techbro. The elusive nerd...jock hybrid.

FlimFlam Imam
Mar 1, 2007

Standing on a hill in my mountain of dreams

The correct term is "triggered" but we'll let slide this time.

Minimalist Program
Aug 14, 2010
Meanwhile, in bizarro world, a 90% black tech startup just got hit by a suit from a white woman whose boss claimed not to have seen her because she was as white as sedanchair.

Thirsty Girl
Dec 5, 2015

not sure how the chair thing is discriminatory

Smoking_Dragon
Dec 12, 2001

WOE UNTO THEE
Pillbug

epsilon posted:

That's because you're a sheltered idiot.

You are very dense!

Dr Cheeto
Mar 2, 2013
Wretched Harp

Smoking_Dragon posted:

If she called the woman a "dumb friend of the family" or something I'd totally believe that but the dialogue she claims is just so awkward and bizarre I can't imagine it happening in real life.

It happened at a tech company.

BornAPoorBlkChild
Sep 24, 2012
https://twitter.com/amelielamont/status/704748906245177344

:agreed:

Thirsty Girl
Dec 5, 2015

Smoking_Dragon posted:

You are very dense!

people do talk like that, though

you can come to kelso, wa and experience it firsthand if you like


on the flip side, lol at this fluff

YeahTubaMike
Mar 24, 2005

*hic* Gotta finish thish . . .
Doctor Rope
not that this excuses the blatant racism she experienced and HR's dismissive attitude toward her, but she got fired from squarespace for drunkenly physically assaulting one of her coworkers at a work event and then she tried to sue them lol

Al Cowens
Aug 11, 2004

by WE B Bourgeois
Get Ethics With Our Ethnics

Minimalist Program
Aug 14, 2010

YeahTubaMike posted:

not that this excuses the blatant racism she experienced and HR's dismissive attitude toward her, but she got fired from squarespace for drunkenly physically assaulting one of her coworkers at a work event and then she tried to sue them lol

But one of her bosses basically called her a chair, which to a black person is the worst thing you can do, given their cultural and biological fear of chairs.

je1 healthcare
Sep 29, 2015
I really don't doubt most of these stories of oblivious IT workers saying oblivious things, but I attribute it more to aspergers than being white or any "-ism"

YeahTubaMike posted:

not that this excuses the blatant racism she experienced and HR's dismissive attitude toward her, but she got fired from squarespace for drunkenly physically assaulting one of her coworkers at a work event and then she tried to sue them lol

I'm shocked that this didn't make it into the article, but "bad employee gets fired" probably doesn't make for a good headline.

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BornAPoorBlkChild
Sep 24, 2012

YeahTubaMike posted:

but she got fired from squarespace for drunkenly physically assaulting one of her coworkers at a work event

i wonder why? :ohdear:

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