A former female employee of Andrew Yang claims she was dismissed from his tutoring company after she approached Yang about alleged gender pay disparity, BuzzFeed News reports. In a 2011 letter sent to the human resources department of Kaplan—which acquired Yang's tutoring company, Manhattan GMAT—the woman claimed she was making $87,000 a year while Yang hired two men for a similar position at a salary of $125,000 plus a $50,000 “relocation bonus.” She told BuzzFeed News that she was aware of the men’s salaries because she had sent their offer letters at Yang's request. The woman said she complained about the disparity directly to Yang twice but got no pay raise.

“Andrew always spoke positively of my work and my value to the company. This changed only when I approached him about the disparity of my salary compared to male colleagues in similar roles,” she told the website. “I believe Andrew fired me as retaliation for asking to be paid a salary that was still significantly less than what he was paying my male counterparts.” The woman was reportedly paid a termination settlement by Kaplan after she sent the letter. Yang's spokesperson said the 2020 presidential contender had the “unfortunate task of letting staff go” who they did not meet company standards. “The information provided by the letter-writer does not reflect the reality of the situation,” spokesperson S.Y. Lee said.