Jennifer Tejada, the CEO of tech company PagerDuty, rendered an apology on Friday after she received backlash for quoting Martin Luther King Jr. in a layoffs announcement. According to CNN, Tejada sent an email to employees on January 24 to announce the digital operations management company was going to lay off 7% of its employees.
But Tejada cited a leadership quote from the iconic civil rights leader in the letter. “I am reminded in moments like this, of something Martin Luther King said, that ‘the ultimate measure of a [leader] is not where [they] stand in the moments of comfort and convenience, but where [they] stand in times of challenge and controversy,’” Tejada wrote. “PagerDuty is a leader that stands behind its customers, its values, and our vision — for an equitable world where we transform critical work so all teams can delight their customers and build trust.”
The tech CEO quoting MLK, however, did not go down well with people on social media as they said she used it out of context, The Washington Post reported. An individual in the technology industry tweeted that the letter was the “most tone-deaf layoff email I read.”
In the wake of the backlash, Tejada sent a memo apologizing for using the quote. “The quote I included from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was inappropriate and insensitive,” she wrote in the Friday memo. “I should have been more upfront about the layoffs in the email, more thoughtful about my tone, and more concise. I am sorry.”
Over the last few weeks, tech companies have gone on a layoff spree that has seen tens of thousands of people affected, CNN reported. In January, Amazon announced it was going to lay off over 18,000 workers. Cloud-based software company Salesforce also announced its intention to cut its workforce by 10%. Microsoft, on the other hand, reportedly laid off about 10,000 workers.
Anthony Madu, the 14-year-old Nigerian dancer from Lagos who gained admission to a prestigious ballet…
Actor-host Wayne Brady recently opened up about his early financial struggles in his now thriving…
Mia Arianna, also known as @mia.ariannaa on TikTok, helped her son become an honorary team…
Alvin Gauthier, a Grand Prairie USPS postman, recently went above and beyond to brighten a…
Maj. Gen. Fatuma Gaiti Ahmed is the first female commander of the air force and…
Benjamin E. Mays High School brought together its 272 senior class members for a meeting…
Afrika Owes' emotional response to learning that she had passed the bar exam on her…
A 49-year-old New York attorney was on April 26 sentenced to 10 years in federal…
During an appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show on Wednesday, pop legend Cher opened up…
Authorities in Florida said an 11-year-old boy was accidentally shot and killed by his 14-year-old…
The famous Taylor Schlitz family is making headlines once more as the youngest of the…
Sony Pictures Entertainment has appointed Tahra Grant as its Chief Communications Officer. She replaces Robert…
Meet Ashley M. Fox, the founder of Empify and the first in her family to…
Tyra Banks, the iconic former host of Dancing With the Stars, has made a delightful…
A Brazilian woman named Érika de Souza, 42, is under investigation for manslaughter after authorities…