A New York Times executive in charge of creating a safe space for employees to raise concerns allegedly encouraged LGBT staffers not to complain, according to the Daily Beast.
Natalia Villalobos, the paper’s vice president of inclusion, strategy and execution told employees in an April 3 post that they should raise concerns in a different Slack channel than the one meant for those concerns, according to the report.
“I just wanted to share a note about discussing or reporting about your workplace experience to ensure everyone knows about our resources,” Villalobos reportedly wrote in TimesOut, the outlet’s LGBT-focused resource group. Villalobos instead encouraged staffers to send their concerns in other venues, such as the “ask-the-company” Slack channel, a one-on-one with their manager or a direct conversation with an HR staffer, according to the Daily Beast. (RELATED: ‘Fundamental Misunderstanding’: Top NYT Writers Revolt Against Union, Defend Critical Coverage Of Trans Issues)
“Going forward, I want to encourage folxs here to raise concerns or issues via the places above ^^^^ rather than in this ERG channel,” Villalobos reportedly wrote.
One staffer questioned Villalobos’ new instructions, according to the report.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 08: The New York Times headquarters is seen on December 08, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
“I can’t help but feel lately like I’m expected to just shut up and deal with the negativity because it might make some of my coworkers feel uncomfortable if I speak up,” the staffer reportedly wrote.
“It feels completely surreal and disrespectful to get corporate swag branded with a pride flag at the same time as we’re being instructed not to publicly discuss our experiences as queer people in the workplace,” another staffer wrote to the channel’s page, the Beast reported.
Villalobos responded to the concerns.
“My post was meant to support the community by offering channels for reporting workplace concerns like discrimination and harassment so that they are received by HR and other partners who can help address them efficiently,” Villalobos reportedly wrote to staffers. “It was not meant to reduce sharing, eliminate community support, or tamp down community building.”