Bo Young Lee, Uber’s head of diversity, equity and inclusion
Uber Technologies, the technology platform for transportation, has placed its head of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), Bo Young Lee, on leave following complaints from employees that their employee program, “Don’t Call Me Karen,” was disrespectful to people . according to color the new York Times.
Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s CEO, and Nikki Krishnamurthy, chief people officer, told Bo Young Lee, head of diversity, last week to “retreat and take a leave of absence while we determine next steps,” Mr. Krishnamurthy was seen by some employees according to an email from the new York Times.
“We hear that many of you are in pain and upset about yesterday’s Moving Forward session,” the email said. “While this was meant to be a dialogue, it is clear that those who participated were not heard.”
The news outlet further wrote that the employees’ concerns centered on two incidents—one last month and another Wednesday—which it billed as “a dive into the spectrum of the American white female experience” and the hearings of white women who work at Uber. I went. “With a focus on the ‘Karen’ personality.”
According to the invitation they were intended to have an “open and honest conversation about race”. But instead workers who felt they were being lectured on the hardships experienced by white women, why “Karen” was a derogatory term, and Lee was dismissive of their concerns, sent them to the workplace messaging tool Slack. according to the messages, which were seen by The Times.
According to cbs newsThe term “Karen” gained traction after a white woman in New York, Amy Cooper, dubbed the “Central Park Karen” for calling the police on a black man who was watching birds in the park attacked her. Falsely accused him of endangering his life when he asked her to leash his dog in compliance with local laws.
Cooper was later fired from his job at investment management company Franklin Templeton, his former employer which said at the time that it “does not tolerate racism of any kind.”
Other names, including Ken, Chad, and Steve, have also been used to refer to white men who are perceived to be behaving in a privileged, racist manner.