On Tuesday, Meta was named in a lawsuit alleging the company overlooks sexist treatment of female employees, including promoting less qualified men over more capable women.
The complaint was filed in a US district court in New York by Jeffrey Smith, an engineer who joined Meta in 2018. According to Smith, his promising career trajectory halted after he raised concerns about alleged misogynistic management practices. Instead of a promotion, his manager, Sacha Arnaud, suggested his resignation following a negative performance review—a first for Smith—which impacted his bonus and company stock, causing emotional distress and economic injury.
Smith began voicing his concerns in the summer of 2023 after witnessing a qualified female colleague’s role being downsized and responsibilities reassigned to less experienced male employees. Additionally, Smith criticized Meta research scientist Ran Rubin for evaluating female employees more harshly than their male counterparts.
Despite raising these issues with human resources and leadership, Smith claims that Meta took no corrective action. Instead, Smith experienced immediate retaliation, including a highly unusual informal critical review from his manager.
By October 2023, after a brief hiatus from reporting these issues, Smith resumed his activism, highlighting that some female employees had left Meta due to the allegedly sexist treatment. Once again, he received a negative performance review, which did not dissuade him from continuing to report incidents, such as a manager intending to fill a role with a less qualified male candidate over more qualified women.
According to Smith, his manager eventually suggested he search for a new job internally or resign outright. Smith’s complaint aims to prove that Meta violated anti-retaliation laws, seeking civil and punitive damages and measures to prevent further mistreatment of women. His attorney, Valdi Licul, stated that the case exemplifies how major corporations fail to address sexist cultures and silence whistleblowers.
Meta has not yet responded to requests for comment.