Pinterest recently agreed to pay $ 34.7 million to arrange a lawsuit from an early adviser who claimed that she had created the platform without compensation.
Christine Martinez, 44, who was a friend of Ben Silbermann and Paul Sciarra, two of the three co-founders of Pinterest, the company complained in 2021 due to a violation of implicit contract, ideas, unjustified enrichment and unfair business practices. She said that she came up with many ideas for the app – such as organizing images on “boards” – but never paid for her contributions, despite promises she would be.
Pinterest, a virtual Pinboard company that has many female users, unveiled the settlement with Mrs. Martinez in a financial file of November 2024.
“Nobody wants to be in the process process, and I am just whole, very enthusiastic and to be honest just relieved to be over,” said Mrs. Martinez in an interview on Friday.
“Mrs Martinez caused useful marketing and community growth – input and strategies during the early phase of the establishment of Pinterest,” said a statement that was part of the settlement, which was provided by Mrs. Martinez. “The parties are pleased to resolve this inheritance.”
Pinterest refused to comment.
The settlement follows a series of complaints and legal disputes against Pinterest by some of his female employees and managers.
In 2020 Pinterest paid $ 22.5 million to arrange a gender discrimination -right case submitted by Françoise Brougher, the former Chief Operating Officer, who said she was dismissed after she had experienced sexist treatment at the company. In the same year, more than 200 employees signed a petition that demanded that the company changed its policy after three former employees accused Pinterest of racial and sex discrimination and retribution.
Mr. Silbermann, who was the president of Pinterest, left that role in 2022.
Mrs. Martinez, who had a background in e-commerce and interior design, claimed in her lawsuit that Mr Silbermann and Mr. Sciarra were looking for her advice for the company that was founded a year before it was founded in 2010.
She said she came up with the idea for the photo boards and the characteristic 'Pin it' sentence of the platform, and also helped to convince top design and lifestyle bloggers to use and promote the site. According to the court case, part of Pinterest's programming code is named after her in tribute.
She never signed a formal contract with Pinterest, but it was implied that she would eventually be compensated, she said. Pinterest became public in 2019 and has a market capitalization of more than $ 18 billion.
Mrs. Martinez is now a board member and strategic adviser for Jingo, an online AI store platform that is suitable for women.
