SACRAMENTO, California — Snapchat’s parent company agreed to a $15 million settlement on Wednesday following a three-year investigation into allegations of discrimination, retaliation and sexual harassment by its female employees.
The probe, conducted by the California Civil Rights Department, found that Snap Inc. — the tech firm behind the popular social media app — failed to treat female employees fairly following rapid growth between 2015 and 2022.
State civil rights officials said women at the Santa Monica-based company were actively discouraged from applying for promotions or lost promotions to less-qualified male colleagues. Women also faced unwelcome sexual advances and other harassment, the CRD alleged. When the employees spoke up, the company leaders retaliated with negative performance reviews, denial of professional opportunities and termination, according to state officials.
“In California, we’re proud of the work of our state’s innovators who are a driving force of our nation’s economy,” Civil Rights Department Director Kevin Kish said in a statement. “We’re also proud of the strength of our state’s civil rights laws, which help ensure every worker is protected against discrimination and has an opportunity to thrive.”
A spokesperson for Snap said the company does not believe it has any ongoing systemic pay equity, discrimination, harassment or retaliation issues against women.
"While we disagreed with the California Civil Rights Department’s claims and analyses, we took into consideration the cost and impact of lengthy litigation, and the scope of the CRD’s other settlements, and decided it is in the best interest of the company to resolve these claims and focus on the future," the company said in a statement.
The settlement, which is subject to court approval, requires Snap to pay $15 million in direct relief to workers and litigation costs. Some $14.5 million will compensate female workers who were employed at the company between 2014 and 2024. Under the deal, Snap agreed to hire an independent consultant to advise the company’s pay and promotion policies. It will also do a third-party audit on its sexual harassment, retaliation and discrimination compliance.
The settlement marks one of several recent actions California officials have taken to hold the state’s tech giants to account.
In December, the Civil Rights Department reached a $54 million settlement agreement with video game company Activision Blizzard to resolve similar allegations of pay discrimination against women.
Attorney General Rob Bonta has also gone after tech industries — joining a multistate lawsuit against Google that resulted in a$700 million settlement at the end of 2023. Bonta also reached a settlement with DoorDash in February for allegedly selling its customers’ personal information.
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