TikTok accused of neglecting sexual harassment claims – 03/14/2023 – Market

TikTok has been accused of mishandling allegations of misconduct and sexual harassment against a director in London, highlighting longstanding concerns about the work culture on the fast-growing social media platform.

Steve Ware, former director of operations for TikTok’s UK e-commerce studio, made inappropriate sexual comments and propositions to young female employees and customers, including influencers who create content on the app, according to four women who worked with him on TikTok.

Ware told the Financial Times that all allegations against him are false. TikTok said any type of workplace harassment is unacceptable and will be met with the strongest form of disciplinary action possible.

The Ware-related issues follow previous complaints about TikTok’s failure to handle formal HR complaints against senior employees and concerns about the work culture on the video app, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance.

The Financial Times reported last year that Joshua Ma, who ran TikTok’s European e-commerce team, told employees at a dinner that “as a capitalist” he “didn’t believe” in maternity leave. Ma stepped down after the revelation but remains with the company.

One woman, who we call Sarah here to protect her identity, described a series of disturbing encounters with her boss, Ware, in late 2021 and early 2022. The FT examined messages between Sarah and Ware, their communications with TikTok and with friends who corroborate aspects of your story.

Sarah said Ware’s behavior included constant propositions in the office and at company events, messages sent outside of working hours and two instances of inappropriate physical touching. Sarah said she felt insecure and cornered in rooms alone with him, who once tried to kiss her and on another occasion threatened to “slap her ass”.

In early 2022, Sarah mentioned the case to Ware Director Patrick Nommensen, who placed her on immediate paid suspension while the company investigated the complaint.

Nommensen asked that Sarah only use TikTok’s internal systems to contact him or the company’s ethics officer about the investigation, according to an internal message seen by the Financial Times. Sarah said she submitted about 30 screenshots of communications and a list of five people who could substantiate her account in the investigation.

Ware resigned from TikTok and left the company in September 2022, prior to the completion of the investigation.

TikTok’s investigation confirmed the allegation that Ware had made inappropriate comments and messages in breach of the code of conduct on harassment, according to a letter seen by the Financial Times. However, TikTok added that it found these affairs occurred before Sarah and Ware were involved in a “consensual romantic relationship”.

Sarah denies ever having a consensual relationship with Ware and said she was shocked and upset by the outcome. TikTok failed to provide her with any evidence of such a relationship, she added. Ware did not respond to requests for comment about the alleged consensual relationship with Sarah.

Following the outcome of the investigation, Sarah’s employment contract was terminated with one month’s notice. “They realized that since he was gone, the case stopped reflecting badly on TikTok,” she said. “I’ve been waiting for six months with no result… I haven’t been judged.”

“I was afraid I would lose my job if I said something… and [foi o que aconteceu] in the end,” he added.

TikTok said Sarah was hired for a fixed-term consultancy, which was expected to expire during the investigation. Her employment was extended beyond that date and, when the investigation was complete, her contract was terminated, the company added.

“As soon as this report was made, we launched a thorough investigation, including interviewing ten different witnesses to ascertain the facts. We are confident that we have taken appropriate action in response,” TikTok said.

Others interviewed by the Financial Times also complained about Ware’s misconduct. Two of those women said they reported their personal experiences to TikTok’s director of ethics during the investigation.

A woman employed by an outside company working for TikTok said Ware asked her to perform oral sex on him in an office, and in another case said she wanted to “tear off his clothes”.

In other incidents, corroborated by two women, Ware discussed sexual acts with young female employees and separately asked about their sex lives.

Ware’s questions arise as TikTok rapidly expands its employee base, looking to challenge social media rivals like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

In all, five former employees told the FT that they had experienced or personally witnessed sexual harassment within the organisation, in offices across the UK and Europe. The UK and Europe are considered TikTok’s biggest markets after the US, accounting for over $800 million of its revenue in 2021.

One such person said he filed a complaint about the manager of a content moderation center who twice took off his shirt in company meetings and was left shirtless. That person added that the same manager suggested that women’s clothing was too revealing and made comments about female subordinates’ sex lives.

The employee said an investigation was never completed as she and an HR executive handling the issue left shortly after the complaint was filed. The manager remains employed by TikTok in a different role. TikTok said it verified the manager had removed his shirt on one occasion and has now opened an internal investigation into the matter after the Financial Times raised the issue.

Two former employees also said they were regularly asked to share apartments with the opposite sex while traveling for work, which they believed perpetuated a culture of unwanted sexual communication.

“Harassment of any kind in our workplace is completely unacceptable and will be met with the strongest form of disciplinary action possible,” TikTok said. “We are fully confident in the rigor of our process for disclosing, investigating and acting on any and all complaints of this nature.”

Translated by Luiz Roberto M. Gonçalves