In less than a month, four high-ranking women, including the CEO, have left Reddit.
The most recent employee to depart is Jessica Moreno, Reddit s Director of Community, who had been at the company for four years. Her departure, , comes on the heels of Ellen Pao s resignation;after a tumultuous eight-month tenure that ended with a week of ceaseless and vicious criticism from Redditors, which often included harassment about her gender and race. She was also frequently targeted by Reddit s more rancorous users because of her high-profile gender discrimination lawsuit against venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, which she lost in March.
to leave was based on personal reasons, and a desire to spend time with her family. She is moving to Salt Lake City, according to Reddit. There is not a date set yet for her departure; however, Reddit has already chosen a successor for the head of community position.
Moreno rejected suggestions that the internal upheaval at Reddit or gender discrimination had anything to do with her exit:
I did not make an announcement as I m a really private person. I don t like attention and having the media involved is super uncomfortable : ( There is a transition in place. I am working with Spez (CEO Steve Huffman) and the new head of community as I leave. I don t want to announce the person since I m not sure if they are ready yet. That will be it s own announcement. Re/code makes it sound like I left abruptly but I haven t. My departure has to do with my own life outside of work and nothing internal at reddit. It has nothing to do with the policy changes or being a woman. The author couched facts between sentences meant to inspire speculation. I have really loved being with reddit and I m sad to go. Staying just doesn t work with the rest of my life right now. I just want to clear up any speculation or misconceptions about this. I assure you that you will be in good hands after I leave. Better than my own, actually.
Moreno and her husband, Dan McComas, joined the company in 2011 when their gift-exchange service, RedditGifts, was acquired by Reddit. The company planned to wait to announce Moreno s departure, but the news was leaked.
Moreno s exit comes less than a month after Victoria Taylor, a well-like employee who oversaw Reddit s popular Ask Me Anything question-and-answer sessions, was fired without warning or explanation to the Reddit community.
Then, just days after Pao s resignation, engineering chief Bethanye Blount left the company after less than two months on the job. couldn t deliver on the promises it was making publicly related to community management and harassing content; these promises include addressing harassing comments and content. Blount told Reddit discrimination was a not factor in her departure.
Two weeks ago, newly appointed CEO Steve Huffman rolled out new policies aimed at eliminating hate speech, bullying and harassment on the site. A forum devoted to content about raping women will be banned, he said, but not one devoted to racist content.
Image: Reddit logo
