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Uber Faces Engineers' Lawsuit Alleging Gender, Race Bias (bloomberg.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the workplace-disputes dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Uber was sued by three Latina engineers who claim the company pays women and people of color less than their peers and doesn't promote them as frequently as males, whites and Asians. The three women from the ride-hailing company, one of whom still works there, accused Uber of violating California's Equal Pay Act in a complaint filed Tuesday in San Francisco state court on behalf of all engineers similarly held back. The women filed the complaint under a state statute that gives employees the right to step into the shoes of the state labor secretary to bring enforcement actions. That law also may give them a way around a provision in Uber's contracts requiring workplace disputes to go through one-on-one arbitration instead of as group actions in court. "Female employees and employees of color are systematically undervalued compared to their male and white or Asian American peers because female employees and employees of color receive, on average, lower rankings despite equal or better performance," according to the complaint against Uber. In July, Uber said that it adjusted salaries to ensure equity in pay for women and minorities.

7 of 123 comments (clear)

  1. "Adjusted salaries" - WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "Uber said that it adjusted salaries to ensure equity in pay for women and minorities."

    What the hell?

    So, their jobs pay differently, depending on your gender or race? What. The. Fuck.

    1. Re:"Adjusted salaries" - WTF? by sycodon · · Score: 5, Insightful

      There are two sides to this coin.

      In Austin, TX, the Fire Department was sued by the Obama Administration for racial discrimination. Why? Because minorities were failing entrance examines in far greater numbers than whites.

      Was the examine racist? Not on its face. Questions included math, some chemistry, first aid, and other questions completely relevant to being a firefighter. But, the doctrine of "disparate impact" (a hugely inappropriate doctrine) says that the examine was, in fact, racist due solely to the passing rates of various demographic groups. This, despite that fact that there were some minority applicants who aced the examine.

      So we have a situation where an unequal outcome is the result of an actual deficit of knowledge, which happen to be concentrated in some groups.

      Who knows if these minorities are actually under performing or not, but it wouldn't really matter because if most of them are, then the Disparate Impact rules takes affect.

      --
      When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
    2. Re:"Adjusted salaries" - WTF? by supernova87a · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Disparate impact is completely grounded on the principle that every demographic should be as well represented as every other demographic. That is where it is fundamentally flawed.

      If that is the case, why do we bother testing people at all, since everyone should have the same intelligence / experience / desire / skill? Is that not just as determined from birth as race / gender / etc?

    3. Re:"Adjusted salaries" - WTF? by sycodon · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Facts don't have a racial bias.

      And it's far easier to dumb down your test than it is to fight the justice department.

      --
      When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
    4. Re:"Adjusted salaries" - WTF? by Type44Q · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What, were you expecting compensation to be based on skills and performance??

  2. The "Sue Your Boss" Act by John+Jorsett · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This suit is being brought under California's Private Attorney General Act, aka the "Sue Your Boss" law. The state will get 75% of any payout, but the real bonanza will be to the attorneys. Because the employer is on the hook for all legal costs, they'll profit handsomely. This law was a gift to the plaintiff bar and has resulted in things like a 2013 suit against Goodyear Tire for allegedly failing to issue wage statements that included the last four digits of employees’ social security or employee ID numbers. The plaintiff got $1k while the attorneys got $105k.

  3. Re:Poor Asians by JeffOwl · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I will be pilloried for even bringing it up, but I am asking a sincere question. Why have East Asians done so well in the US in Universities and in business, especially tech and medicine, while being a minority from a different continent? A century ago, Asian Americans were mostly unskilled laborers. They worked on rail roads, in mines, in laundries, etc... Yet even though they started out poor, were subject to racial violence and widespread discrimination, many Asians managed to move up the socioeconomic ladder. And yes, they did not look like European Americans and did not talk like European Americans. There are many articles that talk about Asians tending to have stronger family units, placing more value on education to the point of sacrifice so that the kids could go to better schools, believe that hard work can lead to academic success rather than requiring a natural talent, etc... All of this has led to Asian Americans earning a different stereotype from what they had in the early 20th Century. Or at least that's how much of the narrative is being delivered. Is that really right? Did Asian Americans just overcome much of the institutional bias through hard work and sacrifice? Is it really that simple or was there another change in the psyche of America?