LGBTQ New York Times employees lashed out at an executive who told them to direct their complaints through HR-approved channels last week, a report found.
The paper's Vice President of Inclusion apparently angered the staffers when she encouraged them to stop complaining through the LGBTQ staff's online Slack channel.
"I just wanted to share a note about discussing or reporting about your workplace experience to ensure everyone knows about our resources," HR executive Natalia Villalobos wrote in an April 3 post to the channel reviewed by The Daily Beast. She referred them to instead use the paper's "Ask the Company" Slack channel or speak directly to a manager or HR employee about their concerns.
"Going forward, I want to encourage folxs here to raise concerns or issues via the places above ^^^^ rather than in this ERG [employee resource group] channel," she wrote.
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The remark did not sit well with the employees. Several told Villalobos her suggestions threatened the safety of LGBTQ staffers, according to the Daily Beast report.
One complaint was pinned to the top of the channel in defiance.
"I can’t help but feel lately like I’m expected to just shut up and deal with the negativity because it might make some of my coworkers feel uncomfortable if I speak up," the staffer reportedly wrote.
The employee described the company's commitment to LGBTQ employees as lip service. "It feels completely surreal and disrespectful to get corporate swag branded with a pride flag at the same time as we’re being instructed not to publicly discuss our experiences as queer people in the workplace," the person wrote.
One day later Villalobos responded to the backlash and denied she was trying to stifle speech or concerns.
"My post was meant to support the community by offering channels for reporting workplace concerns like discrimination and harassment so that they are received by HR and other partners who can help address them efficiently," she wrote. "It was not meant to reduce sharing, eliminate community support, or tamp down community building."
Fox News Digital reached out to Villalobos and the Times for comment.
This is the latest contentious incident between the paper and its staff over LGBTQ issues. In February, Times contributors wrote an open letter bashing their own outlet and claiming the paper was following the "far-right" in its coverage of transgender stories.
In February the paper's editors cautioned staffers to stop attacking colleagues in a memo that defended the paper’s coverage of transgender issues.
