Former Uber engineer Susan Fowler Rigetti will join The New York Times as a technology opinion editor based in San Francisco.
In 2017, Fowler Rigetti published a blog post, in which she said she had repeatedly complained about sexual harassment and discrimination at the ride-sharing company, but was ignored or punished.
“The 2,900-word post became an overnight sensation in Silicon Valley, leading not only to the downfall of Uber’s chief executive but also some serious soul-searching in the industry that continues today,” says a Times news release.
In the post, Fowler Rigetti said she had requested to transfer out of her department but, “according to my manager, his manager, and the director, my transfer was being blocked” due to undocumented performance problems. In reality, she claims she had a perfect performance score and there hadn’t been any complaints about her performance.
Following Fowler’s allegations, Uber conducted an internal investigation, in which it reviewed 215 claims of sexual harassment, discrimination, unprofessional behavior, bullying, and other complaints. The company fired more than 20 employees followed by the departure of CEO Travis Kalanick and several other executives.
Most recently, Fowler Rigetti was the editor in chief of Increment, a software engineering magazine launched by payments company Stripe.
In her new role at the Times, she will be responsible for commissioning and writing pieces on the ways technology shapes “culture, economy, relationships, politics, and play.”
“There’s something really empowering about standing up for what’s right,” Fowler Rigetti once told Time magazine. “It’s a badge of honor.”
