Ex-employee files racial discrimination complaint against Mark Zuckerberg’s charity

Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan founded the Chan Zuckerberg Institute in 2015

A former employee at Mark Zuckerberg’s charity has filed a racial discrimination complaint against the organisation.  

Raymond Holgado, who worked for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative between 2018 and 2020, claimed that he experienced “racial bias and systemic discrimination” in a complaint filed to the California labour watchdog.  

Mr Hogaldo said that he quit his job in August because he believed he was paid less than white colleagues and denied promotion opportunities because of his race.  

The complaint stated: “Despite its social justice rhetoric, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is not a welcoming environment for Black employees.  

“Black employees are underpaid, undervalued, denied growth opportunities, and marginalised.  

“Black employees who want to advance within the organisation are shut down and labeled as too assertive or aggressive, while non-black employees are favoured and encouraged.” 

A spokesman for the charity said that it had investigated the allegations made by Mr Hogaldo and found them to be unsubstantiated.      They said: “While we take any allegation of discrimination seriously and will do so here, this former employee’s specific allegations were previously raised internally, independently investigated, and found to be unsubstantiated.. 

Zuckerberg and Chan pictured in 2015 after the birth of their daughter Max, the same year they started the Zuckerberg Chan Initiative

Facebook chief executive founded the charity in 2015 with his pediatrician wife Priscilla Chan, who is in charge of its operation.

The initiative provides grants for health and education initiatives. 

A group of 74 workers complained that the company was not committed to racial diversity in an open letter published in June.  A company spokesman at the time said it welcomed feedback "and have worked hard to create a safe environment for employees to make their voices hear" and that it was "proud of the many employees who have raised their hands in recent weeks to help in this new call to action".    In his complaint, Mr Holgado said he spoke with Ms Chan personally about his concerns over the company’s ability to retain black employees and claims she agreed that the figures showed it was struggling to retain non white workers. Mr Holgado requested that she hire a seasoned diversity consultant to address the issues. 

He claimed that despite Ms Chan’s agreement that they were struggling to keep hold of the black people that the company hired, she refused his advice and opted for someone junior. 

Mr Holgado, who was running the ogranisation’s criminal justice grants team, alleged that he was discouraged from inviting racial inequality experts who his seniors claimed would be considered divisive among the workforce and would tell workers they are “serving white supremacy culture”, according to the complaint. 

“Holgado was told that Zuckerberg and Chan did not view race as relevant to the issue of mass incarceration and that previous attempts to push the pair on this issue had contributed to a former employee being terminated,” the complaint stated.