New hire is suing WeWork

A black attorney is suing WeWork for gender and racial discrimination after the company demoted her position and slashed her pay right after she was hired, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in Manhattan Supreme Court.

The suit claims the company recruited Ayesha Whyte in August 2018 under the pretense that she would earn $195,000 as its Director of Employee Relations at its New York headquarters.

After Whyte accepted the offer and left her high-paying job at Walt Disney, WeWork told her she would not hold that title, her salary would be cut by 20% and she would have to relocate to Washington, D.C., the suit says.

“WeWork enticed her to leave her prior job. It lured her with the promise of a ‘director’ position based in WeWork’s Manhattan headquarters as well as a high salary,” the suit says.

“WeWork did an aboutface,” the suit continues. “It said she would not have the position she was hired for after all . ... It then hired a nonAfrican American into the role she was promised at a salary more than twice as high as that promised to [Whyte].”

Whyte’s case is part of a larger issue when it comes to black employees who work for the shared-office-space company, the suit contends.

“At multiple levels throughout the organization, WeWork keeps people of color out of leadership positions and under-compensated,” the suit says.

“WeWork has also repeatedly hired less experienced Caucasians for human resources positions for which existing employees of color were well qualified,” the suit continues.

A spokeswoman for WeWork said the company refutes the allegations in the suit.

“At WeWork, we prioritize equal employment opportunity, including hiring, promotion and compensation, and believe these claims are wholly without merit,” spokeswoman Nicole Sizemore said in an email.