NY Times HR exec under fire from LGBTQ staffers over Slack post

A New York Times executive in charge of diversity at the Gray Lady has angered LGBTQ staffers by trying to silence them on an internal messaging channel dedicated to “raising employee concerns,” according to a published report.

Natalia Villalobos — the paper’s vice president of inclusion, strategy and execution — told workers to stop chirping on a Slack channel called “TimesOut” and use other avenues to voice their complaints, according to The Daily Beast.

Villalobos reportedly asked employees who had concerns about issues in the workplace to raise them in either an “ask-the-company” Slack channel, a one-on-one with a manager or directly going to human resources.

“I just wanted to share a note about discussing or reporting about your workplace experience to ensure everyone knows about our resources,” Villalobos wrote on April 3,

“Going forward, I want to encourage folxs here to raise concerns or issues via the places above ^^^^ rather than in this ERG (employee resource group) channel.”

LGBTQ staffers were left fuming by the timing of Villalobos message, particularly in light of the internal infighting surrounding the newspaper’s coverage of transgender issues.

“I can’t help but feel lately like I’m expected to just shut up and deal with the negativity because it might make some of my coworkers feel uncomfortable if I speak up,” one staffer wrote in the TimesOut channel, according to The Daily Beast.

Another staffer reportedly posted: “It feels completely surreal and disrespectful to get corporate swag branded with a pride flag at the same time as we’re being instructed not to publicly discuss our experiences as queer people in the workplace.”

The Post has sought comment from the Times and Villalobos.

Villalobos attempted damage control a day after her message sparked the vitriol from staffers.

“My post was meant to support the community by offering channels for reporting workplace concerns like discrimination and harassment so that they are received by HR and other partners who can help address them efficiently,” the HR exec wrote.

“It was not meant to reduce sharing, eliminate community support, or tamp down community building.”

The flareup came as several Times contributors signed a letter to publisher A.G. Sulzberger last week blasting the newspaper’s response to critics of its coverage of transgender issues.

The signatories accused Sulzberger and the newspaper’s management of having “strained the credibility” of its stated willingness to engage with critics.

“Neither your employees nor your freelance contributors have been able to engage you ‘respectfully and through the right channels,’ as Joe Kahn put it in his internal memo,” the writers said.

“Staff have tried since at least 2021 to address their concerns on this issue internally. Their diligent efforts have been fruitless.”

Last month, the Times said that one of its staffers was spat upon by someone who was upset about the newspaper’s “attempts to eliminated trans people.”

At the annual “State of the Times” event, Sulzberger defended his newspaper’s coverage of transgender issues.

He emphatically rejected claims that the newspaper was promoting an agenda harmful to trans people.

Sulzberger decried the “nonstop attacks” aimed at staffers as well as the “months of threats and harassment.”

In February, several of the Times’ top journalists blasted their own union after the head of the NewsGuild of New York called out management’s “threat” against staffers who publicly sign letters denouncing the newspaper’s coverage.

A group of Times staffers signed an open letter circulated by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, which has slammed the newspaper for displaying what it claims is an anti-trans bias.

In response, Joe Kahn, the executive editor, and Kathleen Kingsbury, the opinion editor, warned anyone who publicly aired grievances about the paper’s editorial policies.