Uber
Executives and Airbnb Executives Come Under
Fire for Wage Theft and Sexual Harassment
Claims
California
case raises awareness of unfair and illegal
employment practices
A live-in domestic worker assisting two tech
executives in San Francisco filed an
official lawsuit against her former
employers in October, arguing both wage
theft and sexual harassment.
The lawsuit argues that Cameron Poetzscher,
head of corporate development for Uber, and
Varsha Rao, the head of global operations
for Airbnb, subjected employee Julieta Yang
to a sexually hostile home and work
environment in addition to failing to pay
her for overtime and minimum wage.
The mother of three from the Philippines
worked for the married couple for over 7
years. She began working for the couple in
March 2008 when the partners lived in
Singapore. According to Yang, Poetzscher,
who previously worked for Goldman Sachs
before joining Uber in 2014, would walk into
the kitchen naked to watch her cook. The
employee argued that when Rao travelled for
work on a regular basis, Poetzscher sexually
harassed Yang numerous times by making
unwanted sexual advances, touching her
inappropriately, making comments of a sexual
nature, or appearing in the nude.
In one such incident, Poetzscher allegedly
bumped into his employee and rubbed his
groin against her. When Yang raised concerns
about this behavior, she was advised by her
employer “not to share it with Rao.”
When the couple relocated from Singapore to
San Francisco in 2013, Yang was offered
triple her wages to move along with them.
Yang continued to live and work with the
couple in their home in San Francisco until
April of 2015 when she quit. She was paid a
fixed weekly rate of $450 during her stay in
San Francisco regardless of the hours that
she worked in a given week.
According to her, it was not uncommon to
work nine hours a day, six days a week,
although she was never given rest breaks or
mandated meal breaks. In addition to working
under these conditions, Yang says she was
required to give her consent for signatures
on employment contracts stating that she
worked 30 hours a week for $12.50 an hour
even though she claims to have been working
much longer hours.
The sexual harassment also continued once
the couple relocated from Singapore to San
Francisco, according to Yang. Unfortunately,
this case is just the latest in a string of
concerns about domestic workers who are
subject to wage theft, labor violations or
unwanted sexual proposition behind closed
doors.
Yang hopes that her lawsuit would bring more
awareness to this issue and help to protect
others from going through similar situations
in the future.
If you or
someone you know has been subject to wage
theft and other illegal labor practices,
consult with an attorney to determine
whether you have grounds for a lawsuit. The
New York employment lawyers at Hepworth,
Gershbaum & Roth PLLC have more than 70
years of combined experience helping workers
in New York and throughout the U.S. receive
the justice and compensation they deserve
from employers. We are here to help —
contact us at
212-545-1199 or
online for a free, confidential
consultation.
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