Stonelake v. Meta
I didn’t expect my career to end when I took a stand against a racist video game, but it’s true. Nothing broke me like a job where I had to tell powerful men "no."
For 15 years, I was trusted to lead Meta's most important teams and projects. I didn’t expect my career to end when I took a stand against a racist video game, but it’s true.
When I was handed the opportunity to lead the company through the expansion of Horizon, I was thrilled. However, I was horrified to walk into a room of men wallpapering over rampant racism, a product riddled with performance issues, and violations of public policy. Worst of all, the victims were predominantly children.
When I raised the problem, I became the problem – a pattern that silences women everywhere, every day. I’ve been sexually assaulted by a boss on a business trip. I’ve been denied promotions because acknowledging my success meant acknowledging men’s failures. I’ve been told to act “less smart,” I’ve been retaliated against for doing my job.
Some of you are shocked because you had no idea these things happened – some of you are shocked because you had no idea we could be honest about it.
My privilege means I have the responsibility to speak up, but the discrimination and hostile work environment I experienced happens at every level, in every industry. It’s exponentially worse for women of color. It creates bad business outcomes that disproportionately harm those we should be most eager to protect, it widens the wealth gap, it puts lives at risk, and it’s against the law.
It cost me my career, it almost cost my life.
I’d been crotch grabbed, screamed at, told to have sex with my boss for a promotion. I survived all of it. Nothing broke me like a job where I had to tell powerful men "no."
When tech companies push marginalized leaders out, they build dangerous products. This isn’t just an ethical problem. It’s a governance failure. It puts employees, shareholders, and users everywhere - especially those most in need of protection - at risk. When Meta's leadership dismissed and excluded me, they weren't just sidelining women, they were prioritizing power over people. They were putting their growth before the good.
This cycle repeats itself across the industry:
Women, minorities, neurodivergent people raise ethical red flags about product safety
They face retaliation and exclusion for speaking truth to power
Harm then falls disproportionately on the most vulnerable users
Arresting this cycle requires both immediate action and long-term cultural change. In the near-term, tech companies must strengthen protections for ethical whistleblowers, make promotion practices transparent, recommit to diversity programs and attach their success to executive compensation, and hardwire compliance into the product development process.
Where Mark Zuckerberg rants about companies needing to be more masculine, where he actively dismantles his DEI teams, and where he smokescreens safeguards, my case demonstrates something inarguable: toxic and discriminatory environments aren’t just wrong, they’re anti-innovation. Hating women hurts everyone.
The truth doesn’t matter to Mark Zuckerberg, but it matters to me.
So powerful. Thank you for speaking up. x
Sadly, you’re not the only one with these types of experiences. Thank you for speaking up.