A San Jose-based tech heavyweight, Lumentum, is facing a hefty $20 million lawsuit following allegations of anti-Asian bias and wrongful termination, according to the Mercury News.
Andre Wong, the long-time employee spearheading the lawsuit, asserts that Lumentum's wrongful termination was a response to his vocal advocacy against the alleged discrimination, as reported by ABC News. Wong had worked for the company for over two decades, acting as a key player in developing a product line that specialized in 3D sensing and facial recognition technology. This lucrative product line generated over $1 billion in revenue for Lumentum.
Despite Wong's success with the company, he claims that he was consistently overlooked for promotions, with less qualified white managers being favored instead, as detailed by BNN Network. The lawsuit further states that Lumentum's senior management is overwhelmingly white, with fewer than 15% of senior executives being of Asian descent.
Asian and Asian-American workers have long experienced a disconnect between their representation in the workforce and their presence in leadership roles within Silicon Valley. For example, a 2023 diversity report from Google revealed that while 45% of the company's US employees were of Asian origin, only 32% held leadership positions. Mercury News reported that Menlo Park's social media giant, Meta, had a 47% Asian workforce in 2022, with 29% occupying leadership roles, while San Francisco-based Salesforce had 27% of its workforce identifying as Asian, accompanied by a 20% Asian representation in leadership positions.
The issue of Asian representation within Lumentum allegedly worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic when violence against Asian people surged. Wong became increasingly vocal about workplace discriminattion against Asian Americans, eventually prompting him to co-found an internal Asian Employee Resource Group. The group aimed to promote Asian American representation, mentorship, and education at Lumentum. However, Wong's continued advocacy ultimately led to his dismissal from the company in December.
Should Wong emerge victorious from this lawsuit, he has committed to donating a significant portion of the net proceeds towards fighting against anti-Asian discrimination, ABC News reports.
