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(light jumpy music)

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- During the most intense racial reckoning

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this country have faced in decades,

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dozens of tech companies
are stepping forward

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with statements of support.

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Given the gaping lack
of diversity in tech,

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and the racism and bias issues inherent

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to many tech products,
critics see these gestures

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as little more than platitudes.

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Pinterest for example,
expressed solidarity

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with the Black Lives
Matter movement in the wake

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of recent protests, but
its statements prompted

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two former black female
employees to speak out

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about their experiences of
discrimination at Pinterest.

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Particularly related to a
practice called pay leveling.

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When people think about the
gender and racial pay gap,

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the common assumption is that
women and people of color

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are paid less for the same title

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and responsibilities as white men,

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but systemic discrimination
can also occur based

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on what level people join a company.

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Ifeoma Ozoma and Aerica
Shimizu Banks were both hired

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as leaders of Pinterest
public policy team.

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However, both say they
were paid at a lower level

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than a white man who
was doing similar work.

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Back in September 2018,
Izeoma first saw the level

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chart, which laid out the
five different salary bands

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for her department.

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She realized she was at
the second lowest level,

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well the white man who was her manager

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and close partner was at the highest.

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Similarly, Banks also
discovered she was being paid

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at a lower level than
the work she was doing.

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She says she went through
proper internal channels

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to request a promotion, but
she was consistently denied.

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Both women filed complained
of pay discrimination

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with California's Department
of Fair Employment and Housing,

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and both quit their jobs in May.

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When you start your
career at a lower level

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than others of similar
experience and skill set,

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it can be impossible to catch up.

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I spoke to diversity
consultant Kim Elsesser

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about discriminatory mis-leveling.

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She told me that even if it only happens

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to you once, you could
lose hundreds of thousands

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of dollars over the course of your career,

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and that's assuming it only happens once.

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In the case that Izeoma and
Banks, their financial losses

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are likely substantial.

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Pinterest successfully
went public in 2019,

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and both women's work
contributed to that success.

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But both women say they received

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much less in stock options

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than they would have if they were hired

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at the appropriate level.

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After initially claiming that the women

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had been treated fairly,
Pinterest acknowledged

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internally that it needed to do better.

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The company has hired an outside law firm

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to conduct an independent
review of its practices,

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but what does doing better even look like?

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Hiring is an inherently
subjective process,

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but creating more objective
level charts that spell out

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how much experience and
education is necessary

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to reach a certain level
would certainly help.

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Elsesser also advocates
for pay transparency

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as a means of reducing the gender pay gap.

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Some tech companies like Buffer

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even publish their employee
salaries on their website.

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As Elsesser told me,
it's not rocket science.

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These big tech companies
could figure it out,

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but they have to want to
know the right answer.

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(rain gently splattering)