A former Niantic worker filed a lawsuit in opposition to the AR gaming firm on Friday, alleging that it devalued the work of feminine workers and girls of colour, denied equal pay to ladies workers and girls of colour. The lawsuit, which is searching for class-action standing, accuses Niantic of making a “boys membership.” The worker was laid off as a part of final week’s job cuts on the firm, which affected about 230 staffers.
The worker, who’s an nameless Jane Doe however is described within the grievance as an Asian feminine, began work at Niantic in February 2020 with a wage of $70,000, the grievance says. Later that 12 months, she was promoted and obtained a increase to about $84,000, however in “roughly” 2021, she discovered that Niantic was paying a male colleague extra money although she had the next job title and extra obligations than he did.
In 2022, he was allegedly paid $127,000 per 12 months, however she was paid $105,000 per 12 months regardless of being one job degree increased. In or round spring 2023, she obtained a increase to $115,000 per 12 months, nonetheless beneath her male colleague.
She discovered she was being paid greater than $10,000 below her job’s pay vary
Round that very same time, the worker additionally noticed that Niantic posted the pay vary for her job title and degree — as of 2023, California employers with greater than 15 staffers must share pay ranges in job listings due to a pay transparency legislation — and noticed that she was being paid greater than $10,000 lower than the underside finish of that vary.
The worker mentioned her issues with different feminine staffers, and sexism and equal pay had been introduced up within the firm’s worker assets group for girls, Wolfpack.
However when the worker introduced her issues to Niantic’s Range Fairness and Inclusion Director and Principal Individuals Associate, they “made clear” that “they and male higher administration at Niantic had been hostile to her complaints or voiced issues about sexism or sexual bias within the office,” the grievance says.
The executives within the assembly additionally allegedly stated her job evaluations had been affected by her discussing office points along with her colleagues and stated that she was paid beneath the vary as a result of she had raised issues along with her colleagues. In accordance with the grievance, the worker then “instantly unsubscribed” from the Wolfpack group “in concern that her affiliation with Wolfpack would drawback Wolfpack workers or her.”
This 12 months, Wolfpack present in a survey of staffers that “many feminine workers considered Niantic as a sexist work tradition that disadvantages feminine workers” and a majority of respondents “expressed issues about equal pay at Niantic,” the grievance says. When these survey findings the place shared with higher administration, “Niantic’s Chief Advertising Officer, Mike Quigley, required Wolfpack to take away references to Boys Membership and related feedback about sexism within the office from their presentation to Wolfpack members in regards to the outcomes of the survey.” The group was additionally advised that they may not survey staffers with out approval from higher administration.
Niantic didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
