A former senior TikTok executive says she was fired after reporting sexual harassment and discrimination including the parent company’s chairman saying women ‘should remain quiet,’ according to a bombshell lawsuit.
Katie Puris filed a complaint in Manhattan federal court on Thursday where she alleged she was forced out of her job in September 2022, just three months after she reported sexual harassment at an industry dinner event.
She joined TikTok in December 2019 as managing director and US head of business marketing but claimed there were a series of incidents where she reported bias and sexual harassment to supervisors and human resources.
Puris claims she was subjected to derogatory comments about her age and that ByteDance chairman Zhang Lidong believed women should be ‘humble at all times’ and preferred ‘docility and meekness’ in female employees.
DailyMail.com has contacted TikTok and ByteDance for comment on the lawsuit brought against them.
Former senior TikTok executive Katie Puris is suing the social media company and its China-based parent ByteDance over claims she was fired unlawfully after she complained about sex, age and disability discrimination
Puris claims she was subjected to derogatory comments about her age and that ByteDance chairman Zhang Lidong (pictured) believed women ‘should remain quiet and humble at all times’ and preferred ‘docility and meekness’ in female employees
Puris joined TikTok in December 2019 as managing director and US head of business marketing but claimed there were a series of incidents where she reported bias and sexual harassment to supervisors and human resources
Puris was invited to ByteDance chairman Lidong’s bi-weekly meetings in 2020, according to the legal filing.
She claims she was given a five to 10-minute timeslot to share updates from her business marketing team.
‘It became clear immediately that Lidong Zhang was displeased with the way Ms. Puris led her presentations,’ the lawsuit states.
‘Because she celebrated her team’s successes and achievements, which he felt was inappropriate because he believes that women should always remain humble and express modesty. Essentially, Lidong Zhang believes women should be quiet.’
Puris claimed she asked to control her document during one meeting but that ‘Lidong Zhang found offensive because he believed women did not have the right to even ask for such things’.
‘Again, Lidong Zhang’s stereotypical view of women, even in leadership roles, was that they should remain quiet and humble at all times,’ the lawsuit stated.
The former TikTok executive alleged she was not allowed to present or speak in the meeting again.
‘Ms. Puris never heard Lidong Zhang criticize male leaders for not being humble enough,’ the suit added.
‘Yet, he criticized Ms. Puris to executives, causing the erasure of all the deliverables and attributes she brought to the Company.’
She alleged she was sexually harassed at a dinner in June 2022 after she attended a creative industry event in France. Puris met Christian Lee, the managing director of advertising agency Zenith Worldwide, at a dinner.
‘During dinner, Lee became increasingly intoxicated and moved to sit next to Ms. Puris in such a way that he blocked her from moving away from him,’ the lawsuit claims.
‘Lee was slurring his speech, spilled an entire glass of wine on Ms. Puris’ plate, and began repeatedly touching Ms. Puris’ arm, asking her where to party after the dinner and where they could go dancing.’
Puris filed a complaint in Manhattan federal court on Thursday where she alleged she was forced out of her TikTok job in September 2022, just three months after she reported sexual harassment at an industry dinner event
It alleged Puris was ‘incredibly uncomfortable with Lee’s behavior toward her.’
She said she reported the incident on the following day to TikTok’s global head of marketing at the time who allegedly said he would raise the concerns further to the head of global human resources Wendy Jimenez.
Lee is not named as a defendant.
Puris added she reached out to Jimenez about the lack of follow-up and wrote that she was ‘disappointed that the ethics team has not taken my concerns seriously.’
She said she wanted to know that ‘TikTok takes real action when one of their employees experiences sexual harassment.’
In September 2022, Puris then emailed Jimenez again about concerns over the treatment of women at TikTok, age discrimination, the sexual harassment at Cannes Lion and the overall work environment.
She pointed to how very few women had been named to permanent leadership roles during the North American reorganization, the way TikTok handled the sexual harassment incident at Cannes Lion, and the emphasis at TikTok on hiring ‘young, fresh talent.’
But Puris claimed she was fired for ‘performance reasons’ just days later.
Marjorie Mesidor and Monica Hincken, lawyers for Puris, said in a joint statement that she faced swift retaliation for complaining about discrimination despite being ‘enormously successful’ at her job.
‘TikTok’s actions against Ms. Puris are illegal and we look forward to vindicating her rights,’ they said.
Puris previously worked at Alphabet’s Google, Meta’s Facebook and major advertising agencies, according to her complaint.
The lawsuit accuses TikTok and ByteDance of violating US and New York state and city laws prohibiting workplace discrimination and retaliation.
Puris is seeking an unspecified amount of money for economic losses, pain and suffering and harm to her reputation and career.
The suit comes months after ByteDance was accused of racism and retaliation by black former employees who claimed the company fired them because they spoke out against discrimination in a complaint with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
DailyMail.com has contacted Zenith Worldwide and Christian Lee for comment.