‘TRIGGERING’

Uber Exec on Leave After ‘Don’t Call Me Karen’ Sessions: Report

An employee event hosted by Uber’s diversity head that was meant to dive “into the spectrum of the American white woman’s experience” reportedly triggered a flood of complaints.

Uber placed its head of diversity and inclusion on leave this week after she hosted an event centering “the American white woman’s experience,” spurring some employees to complain that it had been a forum for “tone-deaf, offensive and triggering conversations,” according to The New York Times. An Uber spokesman confirmed to the newspaper that Bo Young Lee, who has headed up diversity at the company since 2018, was “on a leave of absence” as of Sunday. The event that Lee hosted was titled “Don’t Call Me Karen,” according to the Times. It was intended to be an “open and honest conversation about race,” according to an invitation, and allowed white women at the company to speak about their experience, particularly about “the ‘Karen’ persona.” Instead, several employees voiced their concern and outrage, and a second meeting held last week meant to address the dissent only inflamed tensions. On Thursday, Uber executives informed staff that Lee would “step back and take a leave of absence while we determine next steps,” according to an email first obtained by Richard Hanania, the founder of the Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology, a right-of-center think tank.