Early Meta employee sues for sexual harassment, gender discrimination  

According to a case filed this week in the state of Washington, one of Meta’s primary employees is suing the organization for sexual harassment, sexual discrimination and revenge.

Kelly Stonelek, who spent 15 years in this organization and has come to the post of director, complained In the case He faced a cycle of gender-based discrimination and harassment, which continued after his appointment in January 2021 since his appointment in 25 years.

He alleged in the case that Meta failed to take action after reporting sexual harassment and attack; Revenge against him after flagging a video game product as a potential harmful for racists and minors; And was regularly passed to promote the men of his team.

Until the departure of him, he said in the suite on an extended medical vacation for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. According to the case filed in King County Superior Court in Washington, his mental condition was so severely damaged from working in discriminatory circumstances in Meta.

Meta spokesman Tracy Clayton Martially refused to comment on the case.

The case has come as a meta and founder Mark Zuckerberg has endured an evolution that seems to be transferred to political rights. Zuckerberg sat behind President Trump at his inauguration, UFC Boss Dana White – Friends, Donor and Trump supporters – left on the Meta Board Public Policy Staff employed employees From the politically right-jerk news.

Meta Has eliminated third-party fact-cheeking And the biggest stopped Variation, equity and inclusion programs – the verbs that are compatible with Trump’s policyThe Meanwhile, Zuckerberg Joe went to mourn the podcast that the companies needed “masculine power” because very much “feminine energy” did the workplace “neutred”. As 2023, About 90% Fortune was 500 CEO men.

Talking to his lawyer, Stonelek told TechCrunch that the events described in his case portrayed the greater pattern of abuse.

He told TechCrunch, “When I became clear that the case was the best if there was no way of accountability, I decided to file a case.” “Meta has the opportunity to damage on a scale that only technology companies can” “

“It was supposed to be the place where we left the steam”

Stonelk started working on Facebook on the 21st, at a time when the “Like” button and “tagging” friends were still new innovations in the status update. The company was not yet universal, or it was not even dramatized on the big screen of the “Social Network”.

He told TechCrunch and under his legal complaint, he worked in the Palo Alto office, who was his senior for decades, he was his senior, he worked to create Facebook opportunities for business.

In his case he alleged that sexual harassment was almost immediately started.

During his first few weeks of employment, Stonelk complained in the case that a colleague captured his crutch at a social gathering of a company called “League”.

The league was a popular event to contact others for a long, work -time claim. Stonelk said top employees like Zuckerberg and former COO Sherill Sandberg were present.

“I play beer pong with sherill [Sandberg] Regularly, “Stonelk told TechCrunch.” It was supposed to be a place where we left the steam because everyone was working so hard. “

Sandberg refused to comment through a representative.

When Stonelek grabbed him without consent, he remembered that he would jump back in the push, but he was concerned about reporting the incident in the Meta Human Resources Department.

“I think this is a great common experience for women and especially young women,” said Stonecech. “It is based on reporting these events and the experience of not going anywhere.”

Stayed at Stonecell Company. He told TechCrunch that he was fascinated by Zuckerberg’s view for a more connected world. However, Stonelk alleged that he was soon sexually harassed by his director.

During a business trip in the 21st, Stonelk complained in the case, his director took him to dinner, then took him to his hotel room, where he tried to impose himself on him, dropped his pants down. In the case, Stonelk said that the same director later told him that he would not be promoted if he did not sleep with him. When he refused, he was not promoted.

He alleged that the harassment continued from his manager, and Stonelk was shifted from the Palo Alto office to Seattle in 2002. Before he was transferred, he reported for harassment for his manager, yet no action was taken and he stayed in the company without any consequences, the case.

Once he was relocated to Stonecell Seattle, he was unintestrated until he reached the director level in 20 2017. In this new role, Stonelk alleged that his director had harassed him and discriminated against him, the cycle he had escaped many years ago.

The case contains the details of his Facebook profile image as a symbol of Blue Lives Matter, which is usually seen as BLM’s rejection as he faced his manager during the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest in 2021. According to the case, he told him how to accept the image of the picture, because Meta employees considered personal Facebook pages a reflection of the organization.

“We have clearly told that our personal Facebook pages are important to consider the organization’s senior leader,” Stonelek told TechCrunch.

The manager of Stonecell reacted to him saying “Black guys start innocent and then and when they got it [sic] Police are shot, they are entering the gangs and entering the crime, and the real things are with social services and education, ”the case has been alleged.

Stonelk Meta went to human resources, but complained that he had no support. The case claims that Stonela was passed twice for promotion when her male colleagues were promoted.

“We had no plans for how we would protect people”

Virtual Reality Social Network, Horizon, was transferred to Stonelk Meta Reality Labs in 2022 to lead product marketing for Horizon Worlds. He told TechCrunch that he was interested in working with such a central product in the imagination of Zuckerberg.

Stonelk says he has led the “Go-to-Market” techniques to bring Horizon Worlds to open access to adolescents, international markets and mobile devices users.

However, as a leader in the rollout of this product, Stonelk raised concerns that there was not enough protection to keep the platforms of underage adult users from Horizon Worlds; He further alleged in the case that he flagged the types of racist behavior in the app, which was extended in the absence of the UST -। content.

“The leadership team was aware that in an experiment, black avatar users were called ‘N-Word’ and ‘monkeys’ racist slur,” the case was complained.

“We were expanding quickly, and we had no plans for how we would protect people,” Stonelek told TechCrunch. “

Stonelk says he was excluded from the weekly leadership meeting after raising these concerns. Then, according to the case, Stonela was denied another promotion in January 2021.

He then went on an emergency medical leave to seek treatment for suicide thinking and next stress disorder in the case. Stonela was informed that he would be released on January 2024 Trim In the meantime

Looking back at her time in Meta Stonellic still remembers the joy of watching LGBBTU+ employees and allies as well as Zuckerberg March San Francisco’s pride festival In 2013. He said that he had felt encouraged by Zuckerberg Start address In Harvard when he declared in 2017: “Every generation we consider ‘one of us’ to extend the circle of people. For us, it is now surrounded by the whole world”

Now, Stonelek says he realizes that these actions can be performance.

“I thought I was getting more senior … I would only be able to protect more people to change the culture,” said Stonelek. “My experience was that the older I got, the more my colleagues got and I noticed that more elderly men were less tolerance to compete.”