Protocol: "How tech HR departments fail Black and brown employees"
Alphabet workers news
Today's feature article in online media news site Protocol contributes more real-world stories to document the well-known problem: corporate HR doesn't exist to protect the employee, it exists to protect the corporation. Some extracts below.
- Bruce
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www.protocol.com/amp/tech-hr-failing-racism-2646385426
How tech HR departments fail Black and brown employees
Employees of color often face skepticism, retaliation and even harassment from HR, leaving them without recourse when they face discrimination.
Vanessa Williams was coming off of a big professional win in August 2018. The former marketing staffer on YouTube's music team had just organized a successful event focused on the Caribbean entertainment industry. The speakers, including musician Wyclef Jean and executives from YouTube and Oculus, drew hundreds of predominantly Black tech workers from across the Bay Area to Google's San Francisco headquarters for a night of discussion and networking.
Williams had planned the evening as part of her work as a leader of the Black@YouTube employee resource group...
But shortly after, when Williams received her annual performance review, she said her manager made no mention of the event — or any of Williams' other marketing projects, for that matter. Instead, the manager used what Williams called "racially coded feedback" about Williams' personality, chastising her for her "sharp" tone and telling her to be friendlier. The only thing the manager mentioned by way of Williams' strengths, she said, was that Williams was an advocate for diversity...
In interviews with more than a dozen people who either work in tech or advise tech companies on diversity, Protocol heard repeated concerns of complaints about issues of race left unresolved and HR departments functioning to protect companies from lawsuits, rather than to protect marginalized workers facing discrimination...
Karla Monterroso, the CEO of Code 2040, said these issues stem from the fact that HR is often considered a "risk mitigation tool" for companies. Although it's usually the only internal mechanism through which employees can register harassment and discrimination complaints, ultimately the purpose of HR is to protect the company, she said, incentivizing many HR departments to minimize allegations and shift the burden of proof onto vulnerable employees.
"This isn't a 'bad guys' situation," Monterroso said. "It's a total system failure."...