Facebook was recently hit with a $100 million discrimination lawsuit over allegations that a former diversity recruiter for the social media platform was discriminated against based on her disability and race. The suit was filed by Anastasia Boone Talton, a former senior talent acquisition specialist, back on March 17 in San Mateo Superior Court. According to the suit, Boon Talton claims the social media giant is guilty of “discrimination and harassment, failure to accommodate her disability, retaliation, wrongful termination and breach of contract.” As a result, she is seeking a jury trial.

Wooden gavel on black, reflective surface; image via pxhere.com, CCO.

When commenting on the suit, Boon Talton’s lawyer said that “Facebook talks a good game about diversity but in reality, it’s just lip service.” When describing some of the discrimination Boon Talton witnessed, the lawyer said, “Facebook would simply fly out a candidate just to make the quota of saying that they interviewed at least one diverse candidate, but nine times out of ten, that person was not hired.” When Boon Talton voiced her concerns about the discrimination to Facebook, the “company began treating her differently,” the suit claims. For example, she began getting “left out of company events and was also allegedly told she was not a ‘cultural fit’ when she asked for medical accommodations to help support her medical issues.” Her lawyer said:“When Ms. Boone Talton complained to management, she was shunned, she was kept out of diversity planning meetings, she wasn’t given her Facebook anniversary balloon, and she was kept away from extracurricular activities that other employers were able to do, such as go to happy hours and outings as a team.”To make matters worse, Boom Talton witnessed a male co-worker “who was hired at the same time she was, be given preferential treatment and climb the managerial ladder while Facebook failed to promote her.” According to her, “she was doing the same work but earning less money.”So far Facebook has pushed back against the allegations. Bertie Thomson, a spokesperson for the company, said, “We don’t tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind at Facebook and absolutely disagree with the account presented in this claim…We are proud of our efforts to find, grow and keep diverse talent, and of the support we provide to our employees with disabilities.”This isn’t the first time the social media giant has been accused of discrimination, though. Back in 2015, a racial and gender discrimination suit was filed by Chia Hong that was eventually settled.

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Facebook diversity recruiter files $100M discrimination suit against companyDiversity Recruiter Files $100M Discrimination Lawsuit Against Facebook