State: Snap Pays $15M After Women Told to ‘Wait Their Turn’

Snap Inc. – the parent company of Snapchat – has agreed to pay $15 million to resolve gender discrimination, harassment and retaliation claims brought by female employees of the social media platform, the California Civil Rights Division (CRD) has announced.

In addition to the eight-figure financial payout, the company must provide significant non-monetary relief.

This case outlines specific steps companies can take to ensure all workers are paid fairly.  

Did company growth lead to gender discrimination?

Between 2014 and 2017, Snapchat underwent a period of rapid growth. Due to this growth, the company increased its employee count from 250 in 2015 to more than 5,000 in 2022.

But the company failed to take adequate measures to ensure that female employees “were paid or promoted equally, resulting in marginalization of women at Snap,” the CRD concluded after an investigation.

Moreover, female employees “encountered a glass ceiling and were told to wait their turn” when they sought promotions. They were “actively discouraged from applying for promotions, or lost promotion opportunities to less qualified male colleagues,” the CRD determined.

The women claimed that men on hiring panels were often “dismissive of female candidates, making belittling comments about their candidacy.”

Some women “suffered unwelcome sexual advances and other harassing conduct,” the CRD also found. When they spoke up, the women said they faced retaliation in a variety of ways, including:

• denial of professional opportunities
• negative performance reviews, and
• termination of employment.

The women said they complained about the alleged gender discrimination, harassment and retaliation to no avail, as their complaints “were not adequately dealt with” and “no meaningful action” was taken.

In the CRD’s view, the alleged conduct amounted to violations of California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act and Equal Pay Act, both of which prohibit gender discrimination.

The state agency filed a lawsuit in state court on behalf of female employees who worked at Snapchat between 2014 and 2024.

Settlement requires steps to combat gender discrimination

Shortly afterward, the parties reached a settlement agreement, the CRD announced. Under the consent decree, Snap must:

• Pay $15 million to cover legal fees and provide relief to female employees who worked at the company between 2014 and 2024
• Hire a third-party consultant to evaluate and make recommendations to revise Snap’s employment policies and procedures involving its female employees in California
• Remedy any pay disparities against female employees that cannot be explained by legitimate business reasons
• Permit employees to discuss employee compensation, including disclosing their own wages and inquiring about the wages of others
• Refrain from using prior pay or salary history to set compensation
• Provide written notification at the beginning of the hiring process to notify job applicants that compensation may be negotiable within the compensation range
• Post job openings and promotion opportunities internally to all staff on the company intranet
• Hire an independent consultant to annually audit the company’s sexual harassment, retaliation and gender discrimination compliance, and
• Provide staff training that includes discussions about:
  • Eliminating bias, including gender discrimination, in promotion and compensation decisions, and
  • Creating a culture of pay equity.

“In California, we’re proud of the work of our state’s innovators who are a driving force of our nation’s economy,” CRD Director Kevin Kish said in a statement. “We’re also proud of the strength of our state’s civil rights laws, which help ensure every worker is protected against discrimination and has an opportunity to thrive. This settlement with Snapchat demonstrates a shared commitment to a California where all workers have a fair chance at the American Dream. Women are entitled to equality in every job, in every workplace, and in every industry.”

Info: Civil Rights Department Obtains $15 Million Settlement Agreement with Snapchat Over Alleged Sex-Based Employment Discrimination, 6/19/24.