discrimination | Common News Update

Feb202021 by adminNo Comments

Google sacks founder of its AI ethics programme amid ‘sexism and discrimination’ claims

Technology

Tech giant Google has fired the head of its artificial intelligence (AI) ethics programme, claiming she had broken the rules on moving files outside of the company.Margaret Mitchell tweeted the she had been let go by the firm on Friday, with the move coming a month after she had publicly vented about the way her former peer, Timnit Gebru, was dismissed. In a statement, Google said that Ms Mitchell's violations "included the exfiltration of confidential business-sensitive documents and private data of other employees" following an investigation last month. According to some reports, Ms Mitchell had been locked out of her work account for five weeks in the build up to her dismissal, including her emails and the corporate system.Her colleague, Ms Gebru, left Google late last year and says s...

Feb162021 by adminNo Comments

Black McDonald’s owner sues for racial discrimination

Business

HandoutA former professional baseball player who was once the largest black McDonald's operator in the US has sued the company for racial discrimination.Herb Washington said the firm had denied black owners the opportunities it gave to whites, including by steering them to stores to "distressed, predominantly black" areas.He accused the company of retaliating against him after he raised concerns. McDonald's blamed his troubles on "mismanagement".In a statement, the firm said it was reviewing the complaint, adding that Mr Washington was facing "business challenges that we don't want for anyone in our system." "This situation is the result of years of mismanagement by Mr Washington, whose organisation has failed to meet many of our standards on people, operations, guest satisfaction and rein...

Feb102021 by adminNo Comments

Dance label R&S Records accused of racial discrimination

Entertainment

Getty ImagesThe head of influential dance label R&S Records discriminated against black and female artists, according to a former employee.Label founder Renaat Vandepapeliere dismissed the music of several BAME artists as "meaningless" and claimed the history of techno was "very white", said former talent scout Raj Chaudhuri.Chaudhuri is suing R&S for unfair dismissal, citing race discrimination.The label said there was "no truth" to his "spurious" and "damaging" claims."Mr Renaat Vandepapeliere is certainly not racist and everyone at R&S Records embraces equality," said R&S co-founder Sabine Maes, who is also Mr Vandepapeliere's wife, in a statement.The statement characterised Mr Chaudhuri as a "freelancer who became disgruntled", and accused him of trying to "blackmail" t...

Jul72020 by adminNo Comments

25% of racial minorities report COVID-19 discrimination, survey finds

Health

July 7 (UPI) -- One in four minority Americans in the United States face racial discrimination over fears they have been infected with the new coronavirus, according to the findings of a survey released Tuesday by the University of Southern California Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research. Roughly 33 percent of black, Asian and Latin Americans say they have experienced at least one incident of discrimination related to COVID-19, the researchers found. Advertisement "The early spike in the percentage of people who experienced COVID-related discrimination was attributable -- in part -- to discriminatory reactions to the growing number of people wearing masks or face coverings at the early stage of the pandemic," Ying Liu, a research scientist with the center, said in a press rel...

Oct42019 by adminNo Comments

Robert De Niro sued by ex-aide for ‘bullying and discrimination’

Entertainment

Robert De Niro's former assistant has sued the actor for $ 12m (£9.7m), accusing him of "years of gender discrimination and harassment".Graham Chase Robinson claimed the Raging Bull star was verbally abusive and subjected her to unwanted physical contact and sexually-charged comments.In response, his lawyer said the allegations were "beyond absurd".The case comes weeks after De Niro sued Robinson, accusing her of misusing funds and bingeing on Netflix at work.Her legal documents, which were published by US media on Thursday, said he "concocted false allegations" designed to prevent her from taking action and to destroy her career and reputation.She started working as the star's executive assistant in 2008 and said he referred to her as his "assistant" des...