Color of Change
*The racial justice non-profit Color of Change is facing inner turmoil, according to Business Insider.
The organization’s on-the-ground campaigns have helped to stop New York’s racially biased “stop-and-frisk” policy, force Glenn Beck off the air in 2009 and prompt the removal of TV show “Cops” from Fox’s schedule in 2013.
But according to BI, some staff members say the organization is plagued with allegations of sexual assault, bullying, and gender discrimination.
The outlet said the group has also been wracked with deep layoffs, and ineffective leadership under President Rashad Robinson.
Insider said it spoke with more than two dozen current and former staff, managers, and directors across Color of Change, and reviewed meeting recordings and internal communications.
The outlet cited sources who said complaints of misconduct by senior leadership seemed to be ignored or glossed over, and a chaotic environment led to high turnover.
Business Insider reported the following instances of misconduct:
One top executive was accused of bullying, harassment, and gender discrimination by multiple women in 2020, but quietly left the organization with a laudatory email after being cleared by a human-resources investigation. Conversely, the woman who first reported him was terminated. A senior campaign team manager was investigated after allegations surfaced in 2022 that he sexually assaulted an employee. After being cleared of wrongdoing by the organization’s human resources department, he was removed from the organization a short time later. The allegations and the investigation sparked enough tumult inside the organization that Rashad Robinson held an all-hands Zoom meeting to address it. Current and former staffers told Insider that Color of Change protected senior leaders who mistreated staffers and punished rank-and-file workers who spoke up.
Business Insider further reported that Color of Change management has been fighting with its union, formed in 2020. On April 10, the organization laid off 13 people, most of whom were union members. On May 3, the union filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board claiming that the April dismissals were illegal. The following day, Color of Change eliminated another 12 positions, and again, many of them were part of the union. Between the two rounds, roughly a quarter of the union was cut.
Addressing these allegations and much more cited in the article, a Color of Change spokesperson told BI in a statement that the organization has invested in compliance, anti-discrimination, and harassment- and bullying-prevention training. It also has an anonymous hotline for staff to report issues.
“HR has done a full and impartial investigation of all concerns and complaints brought to it,” the statement reads. “Based upon these investigations, COC has always taken appropriate steps to ensure that the concerns do not occur again after being reported to HR.”
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