TikTok is facing a gender discrimination lawsuit from a top female executive who says she was fired because the social media giant demanded “obedience and meekness” from women.
In a lawsuit filed Thursday (Feb. 8) in Manhattan federal court, Katie Ellen Puris claims she was wrongfully fired as head of the company's global enterprise marketing team — a role she says made her one of TikTok's “most senior female executives in the United States.”
Her lawyers claim he was fired after he began seeing her regularly Lidong Zhangthe president of TikTok's parent ByteDance because he and other executives “determined that Ms. Puris lacked the obedience and meekness specifically required of female employees.”
“Zhang had a stereotypical view of how women should behave, and Ms. Puris, an accomplished executive who celebrated and championed her team's successes, did not fit that gender stereotype,” Puris' lawyers wrote. .
Puris claims she also experienced age discrimination, with TikTok clarifying that they “preferred young, less experienced employees who they believed were more innovative and flexible.” She says she also experienced sexual harassment at an off-site TikTok event and that the company did nothing when she reported it.
“At every step, Ms. Puris reported the discrimination and sexual harassment she experienced – to her managers, HR and employee relations – and the Company, taking its instructions from the China office, did not no corrective action. the lawyers write.
The new lawsuit was filed by law firm Wigdor, which has also launched a number of major sexual abuse cases against music industry executives and artists, including a high-profile complaint against Sean “Diddy” Combs.
In a statement, Wigdor lawyers Marjorie Mesidor and Monica Hinken said: “TikTok's actions against Ms. Puris are illegal and we look forward to vindicating her rights.”
A representative for TikTok did not immediately return a request for comment.
In technical terms, Puris accuses TikTok of violating both federal discrimination laws — including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Family Medical Leave Act and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act — and her state statutes. New York and the City of New York.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/business/legal/tiktok-gender-discrimination-lawsuit-former-executive-1235603318/
