Photo credit: Diego Radzinschi/ALM

The already lengthy legal docket for embattled Uber Technologies Inc. is only continuing to grow, it seems. Three female engineers—two former employees and one current—filed a lawsuit in California court Tuesday alleging unequal pay at the company.

Ingrid Avendaño, Roxana del Toro Lopez and Ana Medina claim in their suit, filed in San Francisco Superior Court, that they were paid less than their male counterparts working in similar roles.

“As a result of Uber's policies, patterns, and practices, female engineers and engineers of color receive less compensation and are promoted less frequently than their male and/or white or Asian American counterparts,” the lawsuit stated.

The three women, all Latina, alleged that Uber uses a “stack ranking” system to evaluate employee performance. Supervisors are required to rank employees from worst to best, according to the lawsuit.

“This process is an invalid performance measurement system, as it sets arbitrary cutoffs among performers with similar performance. … Uber implements this performance measurement system in a way that disadvantages female employees and employees of color,” the lawsuit said.

An Uber spokesperson declined to comment on the allegations.

At least two of the engineers, Avendaño and del Toro Lopez, filed additional complaints with the state of California this summer, as first reported Tuesday by tech news website The Information.

One complainant, according to the report, alleged that “male technical employees made disparaging and discriminatory comments about her, including that the only reason she was successful at the company was because she is 'hot.' In addition, male employees would 'rank' female employees', including del Toro Lopez's, attractiveness and physical appearance.” (These particular claims were not addressed in the lawsuit filed Tuesday.)

The former engineers' claims with the state were revealed after The Information submitted a public records request to obtain the complaints, which were filed with the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency this summer through the state's Private Attorneys General Act.

The Information reported that this legal maneuver has proven effective in avoiding arbitration clauses, which Uber at one time required new employees to agree to if they wanted to submit a workplace complaint. The arbitration policy at Uber was changed last year, but regardless, complainants are permitted to file a lawsuit under PAGA if the state fails to take action on the complaint within 60 days.

“The plaintiffs are seeking compensation for women and people of color who have been underpaid at Uber, and they're attempting to help Uber repair the problems that have led to devaluation of women and people of color in the past,” said Jahan Sagafi, partner at Outten & Golden, who is representing the women.

According to a June article from The Information, Uber changed its pay policies to ensure that employees were not discriminated against based on gender or race. The following month, a spokesperson for Uber told CNN that “to date, our compensation approach has been similar to that of other pre-IPO companies, but as we've grown it's become clear that we need to adjust our philosophy and continue to increase transparency going forward.

This story has been updated to include the filing of the San Francisco Superior Court claim and to add comment from Sagafi.

Photo credit: Diego Radzinschi/ALM

The already lengthy legal docket for embattled Uber Technologies Inc. is only continuing to grow, it seems. Three female engineers—two former employees and one current—filed a lawsuit in California court Tuesday alleging unequal pay at the company.

Ingrid Avendaño, Roxana del Toro Lopez and Ana Medina claim in their suit, filed in San Francisco Superior Court, that they were paid less than their male counterparts working in similar roles.

“As a result of Uber's policies, patterns, and practices, female engineers and engineers of color receive less compensation and are promoted less frequently than their male and/or white or Asian American counterparts,” the lawsuit stated.

The three women, all Latina, alleged that Uber uses a “stack ranking” system to evaluate employee performance. Supervisors are required to rank employees from worst to best, according to the lawsuit.

“This process is an invalid performance measurement system, as it sets arbitrary cutoffs among performers with similar performance. … Uber implements this performance measurement system in a way that disadvantages female employees and employees of color,” the lawsuit said.

An Uber spokesperson declined to comment on the allegations.

At least two of the engineers, Avendaño and del Toro Lopez, filed additional complaints with the state of California this summer, as first reported Tuesday by tech news website The Information.

One complainant, according to the report, alleged that “male technical employees made disparaging and discriminatory comments about her, including that the only reason she was successful at the company was because she is 'hot.' In addition, male employees would 'rank' female employees', including del Toro Lopez's, attractiveness and physical appearance.” (These particular claims were not addressed in the lawsuit filed Tuesday.)

The former engineers' claims with the state were revealed after The Information submitted a public records request to obtain the complaints, which were filed with the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency this summer through the state's Private Attorneys General Act.

The Information reported that this legal maneuver has proven effective in avoiding arbitration clauses, which Uber at one time required new employees to agree to if they wanted to submit a workplace complaint. The arbitration policy at Uber was changed last year, but regardless, complainants are permitted to file a lawsuit under PAGA if the state fails to take action on the complaint within 60 days.

“The plaintiffs are seeking compensation for women and people of color who have been underpaid at Uber, and they're attempting to help Uber repair the problems that have led to devaluation of women and people of color in the past,” said Jahan Sagafi, partner at Outten & Golden, who is representing the women.

According to a June article from The Information, Uber changed its pay policies to ensure that employees were not discriminated against based on gender or race. The following month, a spokesperson for Uber told CNN that “to date, our compensation approach has been similar to that of other pre-IPO companies, but as we've grown it's become clear that we need to adjust our philosophy and continue to increase transparency going forward.

This story has been updated to include the filing of the San Francisco Superior Court claim and to add comment from Sagafi.