Tinder this week fired several employees—including the vice president of marketing and communications, Rosette Pambakian—who are behind a $2 billion lawsuit against the app’s parent company, Match Group, the Verge reports. As part of the original lawsuit, Pambakian alleged she was sexually assaulted by former Tinder CEO Greg Blatt.
The employees were placed on administrative leave back in August, Fortune reported, which at the time allowed them to still collect pay. While Match wouldn’t confirm who was fired, spokeswoman Justine Sacco told the Verge that the employees were “unable to fulfill their job responsibilities” and had to be let go.
In a scathing email to Match CEO Mandy Ginsberg and Tinder CEO Elie Seidman, Pambakian links her firing to the claims of sexual harassment involved in the suit. She denounces the company’s inquiry into her allegations as a “sham investigation,” during which she claims she was never interviewed.
Pambakian also describes a work environment of “ongoing intimidation and retaliation” to “pressure [her] into resigning.” While she ultimately dropped out of the lawsuit because of an arbitration agreement, she claims HR presented her with a non-disclosure agreement, which she refused to sign.
Ginsberg disputes Pambakian’s claims in her own email response, adding that Pambakian failed to file a sexual harassment claim when the alleged event occurred. She purports a thorough investigation took place, claims Pambakian was interviewed at least twice during it, and says the standardized arbitration agreement doesn’t contain any sort of NDA. “You’re free to talk about anything publicly that you’d like,” Ginsberg writes.
The lawsuit alleges Match got out of making payments to Tinder’s original team by undervaluing the dating app.
H/T the Verge
