Uber has been attempting to revitalize its diversity image with the hiring of Chief Brand Officer Bozoma Saint John; however, it looks like itsissues are far from over.
According to Reuters, three Latina software engineers at the ride share company have filed a lawsuit claiming racial and gender discrimination. Ingrid Avendano, Roxana del Toro Lopez and Ana Medin all claim that Uber's compensation and evaluation practices have both negatively affected their earnings and violated California’s Equal Pay Act.
The engineers claim that this discrimination has caused them, as well as other female and minority employees, to lose out on promotions, stock options, bonuses and benefits. Avendano and del Toro Lopez left Uber this past summer; Medin is currently employed there.
According to Bloomberg, Uber incorporates a "stack ranking" system for its employees, which ranks employees from best to worst. The lawsuit alleges the system is “not based on valid and reliable performance measures” and that women, Latinx, American Indian and African American employees are routinely given lower scores in comparison to their white or Asian male counterparts.
“Female employees and employees of color are systematically undervalued compared to their male and white or Asian American peers because female employees and employees of color receive, on average, lower rankings despite equal or better performance,” the complaint reads.
The lower scores affects employees' ability to professionally advance, in part because those with low scores are assigned more menial tasks.
The plantiffs' lawyer, Jahan Sagafi said that this suit will help all of Uber's women and employees of color, noting, “These three engineers are seeking to ensure that Uber pays women and people of color equally for the hard work they’ve done – and will continue to do – to help make Uber successful.”