June 1, 2022
In September 2021, a woman filed suit against Zendesk after Matt Ingebrigtsen, Director of Enterprise Sales-West, announced on a videoconference, “We call your baby the million-dollar baby because you lost out on a million dollars of wages since you took a full maternity leave.”
Today, three more women filed a lawsuit under pseudonyms against Zendesk, alleging they were harassed and discriminated against on the basis of gender, pregnancy, and disability. One of them, Jane Doe I, was lying in a hospital bed after emergency surgery for a stress-induced stomach abscess when the same supervisor, Matt Ingebrigtsen, threatened to fire her if she didn’t immediately return to work.
Jane Doe II was a consistently top performer. When she got pregnant, Zendesk refused to promote her. Her male supervisor harshly criticized and undermined her work—criticism not levied at male employees. Zendesk also withheld a deserved promotion from Jane Doe III after she took maternity leave, instead elevating less-qualified men.
All three women tried to work with Zendesk to find a solution. They complained to HR about the harassing and discriminatory conduct they experienced, yet were met with indifference. When Zendesk refused to take any remedial action, they were forced to quit.
“Zendesk has shown a consistent pattern of hostility toward female employees,” said Matt Matern, who represents the plaintiffs in both actions. “It’s time for the company to take these complaints seriously and make some big changes.”
The complaints can be found at:
https://www.maternlawgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/2022-05-27-Doe-Indiv-Compl-Final.pdf
and
https://www.maternlawgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/2022-05-27-Roe-Class-Complaint-Final.pdf
Related articles:
The Mercury News – Bay Area software company accused of systematic bias against women