Zuckerberg Seeks to Quell Employee Anger Over Facebook Executive’s Appearance at Kavanaugh Hearing

Joel Kaplan, head of global policy, appeared at Supreme Court nominee’s Senate hearing

Joel Kaplan, vice president of global public policy at Facebook Inc., and Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s founder, in Paris earlier this year.

Joel Kaplan, vice president of global public policy at Facebook Inc., and Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s founder, in Paris earlier this year. PHOTO: CHRISTOPHE MORIN/BLOOMBERG NEWS

112 COMMENTS

By Deepa Seetharaman

Oct. 4, 2018 5:09 p.m. ET

Hundreds of Facebook Inc. FB -2.20% employees have expressed outrage about a top global policy executive’s decision to support Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh by appearing at his hearing last week, people familiar with the matter said.

Employees raised the question directly to Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg as part of his weekly question-and-answer session last Friday, the people said. Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg also weighed in on the controversy in an internal discussion thread that has so far drawn hundreds of comments.

Mr. Zuckerberg said Friday that he wouldn’t have made the same decision but the appearance didn’t violate Facebook policies.

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Employees began expressing anger, confusion and frustration after an image of Joel Kaplan, Facebook’s head of global policy, surfaced in the middle of Judge Kavanaugh’s lengthy hearing last Thursday. Over the last week, the topic has drawn hundreds of comments in internal threads, the people familiar with the discussion said.

“I’ve talked to Joel about why I think it was a mistake for him to attend given his role in the company,” Ms. Sandberg wrote, according to a copy of the post reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. “We support people’s right to do what they want in their personal time but this was by no means a straight-forward case.”

Mr. Kaplan is a close friend of Judge Kavanaugh’s.

Facebook is planning to hold a town hall meeting with senior executives, including Mr. Zuckerberg and Ms. Sandberg, to hear and address employee concerns on Friday, people familiar with the company said.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4097500&forum_id=2#36957722)

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/04/technology/facebook-kavanaugh-nomination-kaplan.html

The latest trouble began a week ago, with the testimony of Dr. Blasey and Judge Kavanaugh in Congress. As Judge Kavanaugh testified, one face stood out to Facebook employees: Sitting two rows behind the judge was Mr. Kaplan, a former senior adviser to George W. Bush who had joined the company in a policy role in 2011 and heads up the social network’s Washington office. He had been hired to help counterbalance Facebook’s perception as left-leaning.

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Tweets about Mr. Kaplan at the hearing immediately began circulating among Facebook message boards such as “Women @ Facebook,” a communications chat room called “Just Flagging,” and a group called “Wait, what?” where employees can ask public relations questions. Many employees had one query: Why was Mr. Kaplan there, front and center?

“Let’s assume for a minute that our VP of Policy understands how senate hearings work,” one program manager said in a post about Mr. Kaplan that was reviewed by The Times. “His seat choice was intentional, knowing full well that journalists would identify every public figure appearing behind Kavanaugh. He knew that this would cause outrage internally, but he knew that he couldn’t get fired for it. This was a protest against our culture, and a slap in the face to his fellow employees.”

“Yes, Joel, we see you,” the employee added.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4097500&forum_id=2#36957744)

Sounds good to me. What’s the problem?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4097500&forum_id=2#36962370)

“I believe in standing by your friends, especially when times are tough for them,” Mr. Kaplan added in a later post.

He also said, “Laura and I felt it was important to be with them at the hearing to express our love and support for our friends during a very difficult time for all involved. I took a personal day to be there.”

Some Facebook employees noted that according to the company’s internal human resources software, Mr. Kaplan had not taken a personal day to attend the hearing. Only later last Thursday did someone at Facebook update the system to say Mr. Kaplan had taken a personal day, said the current and former employees.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4097500&forum_id=2#36957746)

Correction: in a sane world the fb employees complaining would be shor

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4097500&forum_id=2#36957965)

At last Friday’s staff meeting, Mr. Zuckerberg defended Mr. Kaplan’s appearance as a personal decision that did not violate company rules. Mr. Zuckerberg also said he trusted Mr. Kaplan’s judgment, even though he himself would most likely not have chosen to attend the hearing, said two people who were at the meeting.

The messaging backfired. Some employees — particularly women — said it came across as if Mr. Zuckerberg was shrugging off Dr. Blasey’s comments about sexual assault, saying that the chief executive’s remarks had caused “stress and trauma” and were “painful to hear.”

Many female employees were also upset that Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, who has made women’s issues a personal platform and project, did not publicly say something about Dr. Blasey and sexual assault. Mr. Kaplan is known as a friend of Ms. Sandberg’s, with the two having gotten acquainted at Harvard, which both attended.

Ms. Sandberg posted internally last Friday, writing, “As a woman and someone who cares so deeply about how women are treated, the Kavanaugh issue is deeply upsetting to me.” She added, “I’ve talked to Joel about why I think it was a mistake for him to attend given his role in the company.”

In one internal Facebook group that is aimed at supporting female employees, dozens of women this week posted accounts of their own struggles with sexual assault. Mr. Kaplan’s attendance at the hearing made them uncomfortable, they wrote, according to posts reviewed by The Times. Several said they would not feel comfortable working in the Washington office under Mr. Kaplan.

Other employees began criticizing Mr. Zuckerberg directly in recent days.

“I appreciate your desire to avoid taking sides, but please don’t insult our intelligence by declaring that this act did not violate our policies, or that it was only an honest lapse in judgement,” one engineer wrote in a post addressed to the chief executive. “Please don’t tell us that you know how hard it is for us when it is very clear from your words, your actions and your tone that you don’t.”

On Wednesday, Mr. Bosworth, a 13-year veteran of Facebook and close friend of Mr. Zuckerberg’s, weighed in in an internal post.

“If you need to change teams, companies or careers to make sure your day-to-day life matches your passions, we will be sad to see you go, but we will understand,” Mr. Bosworth wrote. “We will support you with any path you choose. But it is your responsibility to choose a path, not that of the company you work for.”

Mr. Bosworth backpedaled after facing opposition — including from Lori Goler, Facebook’s head of human resources — who said he was dismissing legitimate employee concerns, said the current and former employees. On Thursday afternoon, he posted, “I spoke at a time when I should be listening and that was a big mistake. I’m grateful to employees who shared feedback and very sorry that my actions caused employees pain and frustration when what they needed was better support and understanding from leadership.”

By that point, it was clear the tensions were not fading. Mike Schroepfer, Facebook’s chief technology officer and the sponsor of the group “Women @ Facebook,” scheduled a meeting on Friday to deal with staff concerns. Mr. Zuckerberg, Ms. Sandberg and Mr. Kaplan are all expected to attend to field questions, said the current and former employees.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4097500&forum_id=2#36957753)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4097500&forum_id=2#36957777)

We support people’s right to do what they want in their personal time but this was by no means a straight-forward case.

We support people’s right to do what they want in their personal time but this was by no means a straight-forward case.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4097500&forum_id=2#36957782)

Chillll, We support people's right to do what they want in their personal lives, unless we don't agree with it lol, we will ruin your life then haha

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4097500&forum_id=2#36957820)

This purity test bullshit is completely intellectually bankrupt.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4097500&forum_id=2#36957791)

silicon valley will now fire you for having conservative friends

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4097500&forum_id=2#36957826)

https://twitter.com/mikeisaac/status/1047961796647108608

this is all difficult territory.

Facebook is constantly getting railed against by conservatives for censorship (who do not cite any specific evidence of how that censorship manifests)

The reason Kaplan is so powerful at Facebook is because of his relationship with the Right.

https://twitter.com/drpizza/status/1047963770285383680

Those aren't good faith complaints and Facebook (Twitter, etc) need to stop treating them as if they were.

https://twitter.com/mikeisaac/status/1047964032689262592

yep. Still haven’t learned that lesson

https://twitter.com/paatraam/status/1047958065558016001

Unbelievable. One of the reasons Kavanaugh is even getting floated is because of FB's role in 2016 and their use by Russians, Cambridge Analytica, etc. And then you just sit there??? He should be fired for that. Or else Zuckerberg openly admit he supports Kavanaugh.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4097500&forum_id=2#36957898)

Also , why are lib womyn so unattractive and mannish-looking in general?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4097500&forum_id=2#36958095)

i want to make a new twitter/facebook. who's with me?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4097500&forum_id=2#36958069)

These people are such fucking children

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4097500&forum_id=2#36961320)