Rifts Break Open at Facebook Over Kavanaugh Hearing
By Mike Isaac
SAN
FRANCISCO — “I want to apologize,” the Facebook executive wrote last
Friday in a note to staff. “I recognize this moment is a deeply painful
one — internally and externally.”
The
apology came from Joel Kaplan, Facebook’s vice president for global
public policy. A day earlier, Mr. Kaplan had sat behind his friend,
Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, President Trump’s nominee for the Supreme
Court, when the judge testified
in Congress about allegations he had sexually assaulted Christine
Blasey Ford in high school. Mr. Kaplan’s surprise appearance prompted
anger and shock among many Facebook employees, some of whom said they
took his action as a tacit show of support for Judge Kavanaugh — as if
it were an endorsement from Facebook itself.
The
unrest quickly spilled over onto Facebook’s internal message boards,
where hundreds of workers have since posted about their concerns,
according to current and former employees. To quell the hubbub,
Facebook’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, last Friday explained in a
widely attended staff meeting that Mr. Kaplan was a close friend of
Judge Kavanaugh’s and had broken no company rules, these people said.
Yet
the disquiet within the company has not subsided. This week, Facebook
employees kept flooding internal forums with comments about Mr. Kaplan’s
appearance at the hearing. In a post on Wednesday, Andrew Bosworth, a
Facebook executive, appeared to dismiss the concerns when he wrote to
employees that “it is your responsibility to choose a path, not that of
the company you work for.” Facebook plans to hold another staff meeting
on Friday to contain the damage, said the current and former employees.
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The
internal turmoil at Facebook — described by six current and former
employees and a review of internal posts — illustrates how divisions
over Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court have cascaded
into unexpected places and split one of the world’s biggest tech
companies.
Mr. Kaplan’s show of
support for Judge Kavanaugh hits a particularly sensitive spot for
Facebook. It has been weathering claims from conservatives and Mr. Trump
that Facebook is biased
against right-wing websites and opinions. The company has denied this,
saying it is a neutral platform that welcomes all perspectives. By
showing up at Judge Kavanaugh’s side, Mr. Kaplan essentially appeared to
choose a political side that goes against the views of Facebook’s
largely liberal work force.
Many
employees also viewed it as a statement: Mr. Kaplan believed Mr.
Kavanaugh’s side of the story rather than Dr. Blasey’s testimony. That
felt especially hurtful to Facebook employees who were also sexual
assault survivors, many of whom began sharing their own #MeToo stories
internally.
The tensions add to a
litany of other issues that have sapped employee morale. In the past few
weeks alone, the company, based in Silicon Valley, has grappled with
the departures of the co-founders of Instagram, the photo-sharing app owned by Facebook, plus the disclosure of its largest-ever data breach and continued scrutiny of disinformation across its network before the midterm elections.
“Our
leadership team recognizes that they’ve made mistakes handling the
events of the last week and we’re grateful for all the feedback from our
employees,” Roberta Thomson, a Facebook spokeswoman, said in a
statement on Thursday.
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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.
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.
Facebook
executives knew they had a serious problem on their hands, said the
current and former employees. That led to last Friday’s apology from Mr.
Kaplan, a former Marine who once clerked for two conservative justices.
In
the note addressed to his policy group, Mr. Kaplan wrote, “I have known
Brett and Ashley Kavanaugh for 20 years. They are my and my wife
Laura’s closest friends in D.C. I was in their wedding; he was in ours.
Our kids have grown up together.”
“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.
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.
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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.
Follow Mike Isaac on Twitter: @MikeIsaac.
Kate Conger and Sheera Frenkel contributed reporting.
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Kate Conger and Sheera Frenkel contributed reporting.
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