2023 has been a really dangerous 12 months for Niantic. The corporate has been below hearth for his or her modifications to distant raids in Pokemon GO, they not too long ago laid off 230 staff, and the cell recreation has been coping with all types of bugs and points. That stated, their woes are removed from over, as a result of there’s now a lawsuit filed towards them.
The lawsuit, which is searching for a class-action standing, was filed by an nameless Asian feminine that used to work for Niantic for just a few years earlier than they turned one of many staff that have been not too long ago laid off. The worker is accusing the corporate of devaluing the work of its feminine staff and ladies of coloration. Not solely that, however they accuse Niantic of denying their feminine staff and ladies of coloration equal pay.
The worker says that, regardless of having a $84,000 wage by the top of the 12 months, she came upon in “roughly” 2021 {that a} male colleague of hers was being paid extra money, despite the fact that she had extra tasks and the next job title than him. By the point she had been laid off, this was nonetheless an issue. Her male colleague was being paid $127,000 per 12 months as early as 2022, and she or he acquired a elevate in spring 2023 which resulted in her making $115,000 per 12 months. To make issues worse, the feminine worker found that Niantic had posted a median pay vary for her job title and degree, and she or he noticed that she was being paid greater than $10,000 lower than the underside finish of that vary.
The worker claims that she mentioned her considerations with different feminine staff, and sexism and equal pay have been introduced up in Wolfpack, Niantic’s worker assets group for girls. The feminine worker additionally went to Niantic’s Variety Fairness and Inclusion Director and Principal Folks Associate to voice her considerations, just for each to “clarify” that “they and male higher administration at Niantic have been hostile to her complaints or voiced considerations about sexism or sexual bias within the office”. On this identical assembly, there have been additionally executives there, and the feminine worker says that they informed her that it was due to her talking up in regards to the matter to her colleagues that her job evaluations have been being affected and she or he was being paid beneath the rang. The feminine worker says that they then “instantly unsubscribed” from the Wolfpack group becuase she feared that “her affiliation with Wolfpack would drawback Wolfpack staff or her”.
Lastly, the feminine worker mentions within the lawsuit that higher administration was knowledgeable of a Wolfpack survey. Within the survey, Wolfpack discovered that “many feminine staff considered Niantic as a sexist work tradition that disadvantages feminine staff”. Not solely that, however a majority of respondents “expressed considerations about equal pay at Niantic”. After they have been knowledgeable of the survey’s findings, the worker says within the lawsuit that “Niantic’s Chief Advertising Officer, Mike Quigley, required Wolfpack to take away references to Boys Membership and comparable feedback about sexism within the office from their presentation to Wolfpack members in regards to the outcomes of the survey”. Wolfpack was them informed that they couldn’t survey staffers with out approval from higher administration. Total, the criticism accuses Niantic of making a “boys membership”. The Verge reached out to Niantic for a remark, however they acquired no instant response.
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