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Black Girls Code files lawsuit against ousted founder for allegedly ‘hijacking’ website TechCrunch


Black girl code filed a lawsuit Monday accusing its founder Kimberly Bryantwho is dismissed from his roles as a board member and chief executive officer earlier this month, “hijacked” the nonprofit’s website.

At the heart of the complaint, filed in the Northern District Court of California, USA, is control of the Black Girls Code website. The complaint alleges Bryant “performed a series of inappropriate actions following contract termination, including illegally hijacking the BGC website and redirecting site visitors to the BGC website.” herself, which makes some false and misleading statements.”

The lawsuit is the latest in an increasingly acrimonious legal and corporate battle between Bryant, who founded the nonprofit in 2011 to diversify the crypto landscape and the board she’s on. appoint. Bryant filed her own federal lawsuit on August 11, alleging the unlawful suspension and conflict of interest of board member Heather Hiles.

In the lawsuit filed Monday, the BGC alleges that its domains – including blackgirlscode.com, blackgirlscode.org, blackgirlscode.site and blackgirlscode.net – all redirected to saveblackgirlscode.com at the time of export copy. That website provided a memo with details of Bryant’s aforementioned federal lawsuit, including her attorney’s contact information.

Bryant declined to comment on the new series of allegations when reached for comment.

Trouble first surfaced in December 2021 when Bryant said she was denied access to her email, which she eventually learned was due to her board being suspended indefinitely. from a non-profit organization. At the time, the board told TechCrunch that Bryant was placed on administrative leave to review the claims against her.

The allegations from the board – bolstered by numerous interviews TechCrunch conducted with former BGC employees – include Bryant misdirecting an employee and creating a toxic work environment . Bryant has denied these allegations. The board told TechCrunch in December that it would form a special committee to investigate the allegations, but declined to provide a specific time.

Bryant would lose his job eight months later.

The Black Girls Code terminated Bryant on August 12. Bryant tweeted in response, saying she was “erroneously removed” and “gratuitously or given the opportunity to participate in the voting for these actions.”

Days later, she tweeted that she was not offered severance, healthcare support or a vacation payment, the latter of which she is entitled under the law in California, where the BGC is based. department.

“Sounds like retaliation?” she tweeted about the lack of work. A spokesperson for Black Girls Code said that Bryant was paid for vacation accrued under California law, but declined to comment on the allegations of her severance and health care support.

In a statement provided to TechCrunch last week, a spokesperson for Black Girls Code said the group “believes the decision to remove Ms. Bryant from her position as CEO and as a board member is in the best interest of the organization, the girls it serves, its employees, and its sponsors. BGC has been focusing its efforts on moving forward and expanding for the success of the organization since its inception. The same spokesperson filed a new complaint filed earlier today.

TechCrunch was unable to access the Black Girls Code website last week, when the nonprofit tweeted that its website was down. The complaint offers another angle on the matter: “Since she was granted paid leave in December, Bryant has sought to harm the BGC by (among other things) refusing to give up control. control over BGC’s assets and assets, including administrative information over BGC’s website, declares and treats them as her own though expressly owned by the organization”.

The nonprofit stated that Bryant’s conduct violated federal and state regulation and “caused irreparable harm to BGC’s operations and mission in the community.” The alleged takeover wouldn’t be entirely unusual: Marceau Michel, founder of Black Founders Matter, cut off his solid colleagues’ access to the site when he was announced to resign. In the end, the team created new emails, designed a new website, and rebranded into an entirely new fund.

In the complaint, the BGC says the website is managed and controlled by the nonprofit, but alleges that Bryant used his daughter’s email account when he first created the website in 2011. “The Such control allows the individual or individuals to alter, delete or otherwise alter the content, operation or existence of the website,” the lawsuit states.

The Black Girls Code complaint says the nonprofit is “taking action to restore its web presence” and is using its Twitter account for correspondence in the meantime. . The nonprofit claims it has served more girls this summer than in previous years and has “never been in a stronger position.”

In the case, the BGC requested a jury trial. A BGC spokesman declined to comment further.





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