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Diversity Lip Service

Twice in the last six months, I came across start-up companies that tout diversity as a PR tactic, but avoided paying me like the plague. So, actions speak louder than words. What if a company says they're about diversity, but they lowball their female employees, and try to fabricate a fake company team, using the images of women that they don't pay? This is what happened with Robobev / Infinifill at the start of this year. Or, like Radd3, break their promises to students and say off-record that they don't want to hire any more women, because "what it comes down to is that men have been working with hardware their whole lives." The owner at Radd3 had said he was all about diversity when I first came to the company, and that he wanted to "show the world that women and minorities can also use and work in technology."

Below is an actual slide that was used to promote a team to potential applicants and investors... I designed it myself. Then, the other female sw engineer related to me that she did not actually work there anymore. She and I complained about using our photos on the slide deck, when they had never sent us a paycheck or an employment agreement. They belatedly removed our images, and replaced them with stock photos of women... bizarre!

Can you spot the stock photos in the image?

We can't take people as honest at face value. There's nothing wrong with trying to get ahead, unless of course you're doing things ruthlessly and disrespectfully... and not even thinking about how your actions are illegal. 

There's been a lot of whining lately by rich men about having to use basic respect and decency in their business. Trump's America. But give these folks an inch, and they'll take a mile. More discussion and awareness needs to be raised about these seedy practices. 

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