A former high-ranking TikTok executive says she was fired after alleging sexual harassment and discrimination, including the parent company’s president saying women “should stay quiet,” according to an explosive lawsuit.
Katie Puris filed a complaint in Manhattan federal court on Thursday alleging she was forced to leave her job in September 2022, just three months after reporting sexual harassment at an industry dinner.
She joined TikTok in December 2019 as CEO and head of US business marketing, but said there were a series of incidents in which she reported bias and sexual harassment to supervisors and human resources.
Puris claims she was subjected to derogatory comments about her age and that ByteDance president Zhang Lidong believed women should be “humble at all times” and preferred “docility and meekness” in female employees.
DailyMail.com has contacted TikTok and ByteDance for comment on the lawsuit filed against them.
Former TikTok senior executive Katie Puris is suing the social media company and its China-based parent, ByteDance, over allegations that she was illegally fired after complaining about sex, age and disability discrimination.
Puris claims she was subjected to derogatory comments about her age and that ByteDance president Zhang Lidong (pictured) believed women “should remain quiet and humble at all times” and preferred “docility and meekness” in female employees. .
Puris joined TikTok in December 2019 as CEO and head of US business marketing, but said there were a series of incidents in which she reported bias and sexual harassment to supervisors and human resources.
Puris was invited to ByteDance Chairman Lidong’s biweekly meetings in 2020, according to the legal document.
He claims he was given a five- to ten-minute time slot to share updates from his enterprise marketing team.
“It was immediately clear that Lidong Zhang was displeased with the way Ms. Puris conducted her presentations,” the lawsuit states.
‘Because he celebrated the successes and achievements of his team, which he considered inappropriate because he believes that women should always be humble and express modesty. Basically, Lidong Zhang believes that women should be quiet.”
Puris claimed that she asked to check her document during a meeting, but that “Lidong Zhang found it offensive because he believed that women had no right to even ask for such things.”
“Once again, Lidong Zhang’s stereotypical view of women, even in leadership positions, was that they should remain quiet and humble at all times,” the lawsuit states.
The former TikTok executive alleged that she was not allowed to reintroduce herself or speak at the meeting.
‘EM. Puris never heard Lidong Zhang criticize male leaders for not being humble enough,” the lawsuit adds.
“However, he criticized Ms. Puris to executives, resulting in the removal of all deliverables and attributes she brought to the company.”
She alleged that she was sexually harassed at a dinner party in June 2022 after attending a creative industry event in France. Puris met Christian Lee, CEO of advertising agency Zenith Worldwide, at a dinner.
“During dinner, Lee became increasingly intoxicated and sat next to Ms. Puris in a manner that prevented her from moving away from him,” the lawsuit states.
“Lee slurred his words, spilled an entire glass of wine on Ms. Puris’s plate, and began repeatedly touching Ms. Puris’s arm, asking her where to party after dinner and where they could go dancing.”
Puris filed a complaint in Manhattan federal court on Thursday alleging that she was forced to leave her job at TikTok in September 2022, just three months after reporting sexual harassment at an industry dinner.
She alleged that Puris was “incredibly uncomfortable with Lee’s behavior toward her.”
He said he reported the incident the next day to TikTok’s global head of marketing at the time, who reportedly said she would raise her concerns with global human resources head Wendy Jimenez.
Puris added that she contacted Jiménez about the lack of follow-up and wrote that she was “disappointed that the ethics team did not take my concerns seriously.”
He said he wanted to know that “TikTok takes real action when one of its employees experiences sexual harassment.”
In September 2022, Puris emailed Jiménez again about her concerns about the treatment of women on TikTok, age discrimination, sexual harassment at Cannes Lion, and the work environment in general.
She noted that very few women had been appointed to permanent leadership positions during the North American reorganization, TikTok’s handling of the sexual harassment incident at Cannes Lion, and TikTok’s emphasis on hiring “young, fresh talent.”
But Puris claimed she was fired for “performance reasons” a few days later.
Marjorie Mesidor and Monica Hincken, attorneys for Puris, said in a joint statement that she faced swift retaliation for complaining about discrimination despite being “enormously successful” in her work.
“TikTok’s actions against Ms. Puris are illegal and we hope to vindicate her rights,” they said.
Puris previously worked at Alphabet’s Google, Meta’s Facebook and major advertising agencies, according to his complaint.
The lawsuit accuses TikTok and ByteDance of violating US and New York state and city laws that prohibit discrimination and retaliation in the workplace.
Puris is seeking an unspecified amount of money for financial loss, pain and suffering, and damage to his reputation and career.
The lawsuit comes months after ByteDance was accused of racism and retaliation by former Black employees who claimed the company fired them because they spoke out against discrimination in a complaint to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
DailyMail.com has contacted Zenith Worldwide and Christian Lee for comment.