Fremont software engineer claims Amazon manager told her jobs might not work for 'females' Rajakumari Chouta of Fremont got the news this past November that she would be laid off in January from her software developer job at Amazon in San Francisco, so she began applying for new positions internally. That’s when, Chouta claims in her newly filed lawsuit against the e-commerce giant, she ran into a wall of sexism, saw jobs go to men and ended up out of the company. Chouta, who is married, approached a hiring manager about transferring to a systems-development engineering position, the lawsuit said. The manager told her women might not be able to perform well because the job involved frequent on-call duties, and was not for those needing to take care of children and a husband and perform household chores, the lawsuit in San Francisco County Superior Court claimed. She did not hear back for several weeks about the job, so she contacted the manager — who is not named as a defendant in her lawsuit — and he told her the position had gone to a man, according to the lawsuit. But the manager said he had two similar positions open on his team and suggested Chouta could interview for those, the lawsuit said. After a mid-December interview for another systems-development job, the manager told her the feedback about her was largely positive, the lawsuit said. But, he added, the work involved tedious tasks that “might not be suitable for the female candidates,” the lawsuit claimed. The manager also made the “remarkable request” that Chouta check with her family and husband and get permission, then let him know the next morning if she was “willing to contribute like male candidates and transfer to Seattle using her own expenses,” the lawsuit alleged. Offended but still needing a job, Chouta sent the manager a message saying she had spoken with her family and wanted the position. The manager immediately responded, telling her the transfer might not finish before she was laid off, then later said the job was on hold because of a hiring freeze, the lawsuit said. About two weeks later, Chouta found out the position had been filled by a man, the lawsuit claimed. Chouta complained to the company about the manager’s “sexist statements,” according to the lawsuit, which does not mention whether the company responded to the purported complaint.
Infuriating to read about such experiences. Sadly, they continue to occur, even within companies as large as Amazon with huge HR departments. All it takes is a few clueless managers. Will be interesting to see how this unfolds, she is already out of the company, so it cannot be hushed up I guess. Kudos to the engineer for filing the lawsuit, many might stay silent for fear of being blacklisted in future job searches; nothing truly disappears from the internet.
The manager has not been named but I have an informal wager with my friend that it is an Indian origin person. ==== I initially thought they had communicated verbally and the manager had said those things verbally, and wondered how she would prove it. Looks like it was in written message form! He is even more of an idiot. Chouta sent the manager a message saying she had spoken with her family and wanted the position. The manager immediately responded, telling her the transfer might not finish before she was laid off, then later said the job was on hold because of a hiring freeze, the lawsuit said. About two weeks later, Chouta found out the position had been filled by a man, the lawsuit claimed.
https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/amazon-sexism-lawsuit-tech-worker-19568232.php This article names the manager and gives more details. Yes, looks like an easy case from what we know. Even if the objectionable stuff was said only verbally from his side, looks like he didn't refute her message, that might be enough to prove his wrongdoing. There is a tiny possibility that they were just talking informally in Telugu about the job openings and he was cautioning her about job requirements... either way, not a smart move on his part.
