Uber’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) czar, Bo Young Lee, is reportedly on leave from the company after employees complained about an event called “Don’t Call Me Karen.”
The company emailed its employees with an apology about the event, which was reportedly intended to dive into the “American white woman’s experience” and discuss the term “Karen,” according to The New York Times.
A “Karen” is a racially-charged insult usually applied to White women that depicts them as entitled and apt to report Black people to the authorities.
“We have heard that many of you are in pain and upset by yesterday’s Moving Forward session,” Uber reportedly told its employees. “While it was meant to be a dialogue, it’s obvious that those who attended did not feel heard.”
It was an attempt by the company to make up with some employees who believed they were “being lectured on the difficulties experienced by white women and why ‘Karen’ was a derogatory term,” according to the Times.
“I felt like I was being scolded for the entirety of that meeting,” one employee wrote.
“I think when people are called Karens it’s implied that this is someone that has little empathy to others or is bothered by minorities others that don’t look like them. Like why can’t bad behavior not be called out?” another person wrote.
A physician assistant at Bellevue Hospital in New York City, Sarah Comrie, was recently branded a “Karen” online by media outlets and social media critics after she was seen arguing with a group of Black men who accused her of taking their rental bike.
Her attorney Justin Marino explained on “America’s Newsroom” Friday that the 6-month pregnant health care provider had just ended her 12-hour-shift and was trying to rent a bike to go home.
As a result of the media attacks on her, Comrie’s lawyer said that she’s “received death threats.”
“She’s in hiding. What’s at play is what social media did to this woman who’s literally a hero, and has done nothing but help people and within one minute effectively tries to ruin her life.”
Uber did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Fox News’ Kristine Parks contributed to this report.
