A Twitter exec told an Asian-American employee she could pass as white if she wore sunglasses after she spoke out about the company's lack of diversity, a report says
The New York Times reports that the executive, Dantley Davis, instead promoted a culture of fear, made employees cry, and caused some people to leave the company.
The paper spoke with about a dozen current and former Twitter employees about how the company was worried about its long-time collaborative and kind work environment, which it said was stifling innovation and constructive criticism. And so Davis, who reports directly to CEO Jack Dorsey, aimed to toughen up the company with a blunt managerial style.
But some employees say his treatment of them was too harsh and led to multiple HR investigations and complaints to Dorsey. One of the most recent investigations was launched earlier this year.
Twitter's head of HR told the Times: "This is actually a Twitter culture change that we've been trying to drive." Twitter did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
At one meeting, Davis encouraged employees to critique and compliment each other, which led to multiple people crying, sources told the Times. They also said that, upon joining the company, Davis quickly resorted to criticizing, demoting, or cutting employees. And despite his openness to criticism, employees said he scolded those who criticized him.
