{"id":12707,"date":"2023-09-07T12:14:20","date_gmt":"2023-09-07T12:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/startups\/grindrs-return-to-office-ultimatum-has-gutted-a-uniquely-queer-space-in-tech\/"},"modified":"2023-09-07T12:14:21","modified_gmt":"2023-09-07T12:14:21","slug":"grindrs-return-to-office-ultimatum-has-gutted-a-uniquely-queer-space-in-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=12707","title":{"rendered":"Grindr\u2019s Return-to-Office Ultimatum Has Gutted a Uniquely Queer Space in Tech"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p class=\"paywall\">Erick Cortez, a knowledge specialist on Grindr\u2019s customer experience team, who is based in Dallas, Texas, doesn\u2019t yet know where he\u2019ll be asked to move. \u201cWe\u2019ve gotten no guidance whatsoever,\u201d he says. Cortez works with engineers to resolve bugs in the Grindr app. Now that most of the engineering team is gone, he says, \u201cwe have already run into quite a few issues where we simply don\u2019t know who to reach out to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">While many tech companies including Amazon, Meta, and Google have been cracking down on remote work, Grindr\u2019s rollout was particularly abrupt. Employees say Arison announced the new policy over Zoom in August, then quickly ended the meeting before a staffer could finish asking a question. Cortez and another employee say questions posted in Slack afterward were ignored.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">The new policy blindsided many Grindr workers because of Arison\u2019s previous commitments to remote work, his remarks at the June off-site, and the reassurances HR posted on Slack. Employees hired as recently as a few weeks before the announcement were not told they would be expected to work in the office, according to the two staff members. Last month, the CWA filed an unfair labor practice charge, alleging that the mandate was meant to punish the staff for unionizing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">Cortez says the cuts disproportionately impacted union supporters\u2014nine out of 11 union organizing committee members were forced out. He says the company disabled the chat feature in Zoom during all-hands meetings in the weeks following the announcement, then restored it after the terminated employees were gone. That action is the subject of one of the unfair labor practice charges that Grindr\u2019s union filed today, arguing that the company unlawfully shut down a channel of communication used to discuss workplace matters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">For Robin, a transgender employee who asked WIRED to withhold their gender and real name for fear of retaliation, the mandate forced a choice between a job they loved and a support system that includes trusted doctors who provide their transgender medical care. They ultimately chose to leave the company. Robin says coming to Grindr was \u201ca blast of fresh air\u201d compared to other jobs in the tech industry. \u201cI felt normal. I didn\u2019t feel like the one queer person or the most noticeable queer person at the company. It was what I was always looking for. And now that\u2019s gone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">None of the roughly eight openly trans employees who would have had to relocate chose to do so, \u201cwhich shows a disparate impact on a marginalized class of workers,\u201d Robin says. \u201cDemanding that LGBTQ+ people move for their jobs in this political environment conflicts so much with Grindr\u2019s mission, that it\u2019s close to its users, that it\u2019s a part of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">In one of the two charges filed today with the NLRB, the CWA alleges that a severance agreement offered to departing employees that bars the disclosure of company policies and plans would likely be interpreted as restricting their right to communicate with one another, the NLRB, and the union.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">The gutting of Grindr isn\u2019t the first time the CWA has alleged RTO policy is being used as a tool for union busting. In January, the union filed charges against Alphabet, claiming its return-to-office policy punished YouTube employees who had recently unionized, a charge Alphabet denies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">Shortly after Arison was hired as CEO in October, Twitter users unearthed tweets he\u2019d written expressing support for conservative politicians, many of whom had expressed anti-LGBTQ+ views. Robin was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt after he told staff he would change, but says the recent alleged union busting has broken that trust.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">Despite the conflict with staff and mass departures, Cortez says many workers still at the company hope to salvage the Grindr they came to love, and that the union is hoping to reverse the return-to-office policy. \u201cGrindr is not your typical workplace,\u201d he says. \u201cIt has given me and many of my coworkers a space where we can be ourselves without needing to hide who we are. I want to protect what Grindr stands for.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Read the full article <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/grindrs-return-to-office-ultimatum-gutted-a-uniquely-queer-space-in-tech\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Erick Cortez, a knowledge specialist on Grindr\u2019s customer experience team, who is based in Dallas, Texas, doesn\u2019t yet know where he\u2019ll be asked to move. \u201cWe\u2019ve gotten no guidance whatsoever,\u201d he says. Cortez works with engineers to resolve bugs in the Grindr app. Now that most of the engineering team is gone, he says, \u201cwe [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12708,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12707","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-startups"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Grindr\u2019s Return-to-Office Ultimatum Has Gutted a Uniquely Queer Space in Tech | Brandiary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Erick Cortez, a knowledge specialist on Grindr\u2019s customer experience team, who is based in Dallas, Texas, doesn\u2019t yet know where he\u2019ll be asked to move.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=12707\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Grindr\u2019s Return-to-Office Ultimatum Has Gutted a Uniquely Queer Space in Tech | Brandiary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Erick Cortez, a knowledge specialist on Grindr\u2019s customer experience team, who is based in Dallas, Texas, doesn\u2019t yet know where he\u2019ll be asked to move.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=12707\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Brandiary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-07T12:14:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-09-07T12:14:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Grindr-biz-GettyImages-1442554187.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"670\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"News Room\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"News Room\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=12707#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=12707\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"News Room\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5062dafb0f932b59aa228f1a047332f4\"},\"headline\":\"Grindr\u2019s Return-to-Office Ultimatum Has Gutted a Uniquely Queer Space in Tech\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-07T12:14:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-07T12:14:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=12707\"},\"wordCount\":710,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Startups\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=12707#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=12707\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=12707\",\"name\":\"Grindr\u2019s Return-to-Office Ultimatum Has Gutted a Uniquely Queer Space in Tech | Brandiary\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-07T12:14:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-07T12:14:21+00:00\",\"description\":\"Erick Cortez, a knowledge specialist on Grindr\u2019s customer experience team, who is based in Dallas, Texas, doesn\u2019t yet know where he\u2019ll be asked to move.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=12707#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=12707\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=12707#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Grindr\u2019s Return-to-Office Ultimatum Has Gutted a Uniquely Queer Space in Tech\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/\",\"name\":\"Brandiary\",\"description\":\"Latest Business and Startup News and Updates\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Brandiary\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/b-logo-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/b-logo-1.png\",\"width\":381,\"height\":100,\"caption\":\"Brandiary\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5062dafb0f932b59aa228f1a047332f4\",\"name\":\"News Room\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/avatar_user_1_1688031660-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/avatar_user_1_1688031660-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"News Room\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Grindr\u2019s Return-to-Office Ultimatum Has Gutted a Uniquely Queer Space in Tech | Brandiary","description":"Erick Cortez, a knowledge specialist on Grindr\u2019s customer experience team, who is based in Dallas, Texas, doesn\u2019t yet know where he\u2019ll be asked to move.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=12707","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Grindr\u2019s Return-to-Office Ultimatum Has Gutted a Uniquely Queer Space in Tech | Brandiary","og_description":"Erick Cortez, a knowledge specialist on Grindr\u2019s customer experience team, who is based in Dallas, Texas, doesn\u2019t yet know where he\u2019ll be asked to move.","og_url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=12707","og_site_name":"Brandiary","article_published_time":"2023-09-07T12:14:20+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-09-07T12:14:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":670,"url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Grindr-biz-GettyImages-1442554187.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"News Room","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"News Room","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=12707#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=12707"},"author":{"name":"News Room","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5062dafb0f932b59aa228f1a047332f4"},"headline":"Grindr\u2019s Return-to-Office Ultimatum Has Gutted a Uniquely Queer Space in Tech","datePublished":"2023-09-07T12:14:20+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-07T12:14:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=12707"},"wordCount":710,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Startups"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=12707#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=12707","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=12707","name":"Grindr\u2019s Return-to-Office Ultimatum Has Gutted a Uniquely Queer Space in Tech | Brandiary","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-09-07T12:14:20+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-07T12:14:21+00:00","description":"Erick Cortez, a knowledge specialist on Grindr\u2019s customer experience team, who is based in Dallas, Texas, doesn\u2019t yet know where he\u2019ll be asked to move.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=12707#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=12707"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=12707#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Grindr\u2019s Return-to-Office Ultimatum Has Gutted a Uniquely Queer Space in Tech"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/","name":"Brandiary","description":"Latest Business and Startup News and Updates","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization","name":"Brandiary","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/b-logo-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/b-logo-1.png","width":381,"height":100,"caption":"Brandiary"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5062dafb0f932b59aa228f1a047332f4","name":"News Room","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/avatar_user_1_1688031660-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/avatar_user_1_1688031660-96x96.png","caption":"News Room"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com"],"url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12707"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12709,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12707\/revisions\/12709"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}