The FeedFeed Hit With Lawsuit Alleging Workplace Racism and Sexism | Eater

"A social-media-driven food media company that bills itself as the world’s largest crowdsourced publication, best known for a high-visibility Instagram account (about 2 million followers) and hashtags that have amassed millions of food photos. Founded in 2013 by Dan and Julie Resnick from an initial Instagram project in the Hamptons, it expanded into Brooklyn and Los Angeles offices that serve as test kitchens, event spaces, and film studios and operates largely by reposting influencers’ and staffers’ recipe content. A federal lawsuit filed in January 2022 by former employees Rachel Gurjar and Sahara Henry-Bohoskey alleges systemic racism and sexism, claiming they were directed to work more than white colleagues for less pay, subjected to a racially hostile environment, denied raises and title changes, tokenized during 2020 racial-justice protests, pressured to skip breaks and work unpaid evenings/weekends, and assigned menial or degrading tasks. The complaint also names a then-test-kitchen/editorial director as an alleged instigator of abusive behavior — including mocking pronunciation and grammar, discouraging family plans, leaving staff to clean his dishes, and making an anti-Asian coronavirus remark — while the defendants deny the allegations. After the departures of both plaintiffs, the company paid each more than $31,000 for previously unpaid overtime; the firm’s attorneys have since issued cease-and-desist letters to some critics, and the plaintiffs’ attorneys have offered pro bono representation to others challenging those letters." - Elazar Sontag