Twitter has become the latest US technology giant to face gender discrimination claims after a former software engineer alleged promotion processes favour men.
In a lawsuit filed on Thursday at a California state court in San Francisco engineer Tina Huang accused Twitter of having no formal procedures for posting job openings or granting promotions.
Instead she alleged that a secretive “shoulder tap” process exists and that few women get elevated to top engineering positions.
Huang claims she was overlooked for promotion and was let go after she complained about it, according to Mashable.
Twitter disputes the claims and says Huang was not fired and that Twitter had tried to persuade her to stay. Twitter said it has a diverse and supportive workplace.
The case has emerged while the Ellen Pao case over alleged discrimination continues against her former employers Kleiner Perkins and within days of another woman Chia Hong taking a case against Facebook over alleged sexual and racial discrimination.
In the Twitter case Huang is attempting to bring a class action suit against the San Francisco social media player and alleges the company’s promotion system “creates a glass ceiling for women that cannot be explained or justified by any reasonable business purpose.”
The action seeks to end the existing practice and get monetary relief including punitive damages for Huang and all current and former female employees of Twitter denied promotions in the past htree years.
Legal image via Shutterstock
