Talia Jane
Born
Talia Ben-Ora

1990 or 1991 (age 32–33)
EducationCalifornia State University, Long Beach (BA)
OccupationJournalist
Known forLabor activism

Talia Jane (born Talia Ben-Ora in 1990 or 1991)[1] is an American writer and labor activist. They are known for bringing attention to minimum wage compensation across tech companies in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Education and career

Jane attended community college until they transferred to California State University, Long Beach,[2] where they earned a Bachelor of Arts in English literature.[3]

Jane is a freelance journalist and has contributed to Mic,[4] Vice,[5] Allure,[6] Elle,[7] and The Guardian.[8] They also worked as a writer for Full Frontal with Samantha Bee's trivia game This Is Not A Game: The Game.[9] As an independent reporter, in 2020, Jane attended protests in Manhattan following the death of football player Johnathan Price[10] and later election protests in Washington, D.C.[11]

Activism at Yelp

In February 2016, Jane published an open letter on Medium to Jeremy Stoppelman, the chief executive officer of Yelp, where they worked as a customer service representative for Yelp's Eat24 food delivery service. The letter contrasted the minimum-wage hourly pay of their role and the high cost of living in the Bay Area, highlighting the workers' $12.25 hourly wages, the cost of housing and groceries, and poverty issues among their colleagues.[3] Jane said the only housing they could afford with their pay was 30 miles east in Concord, and had no money left for food after rent and transportation to work.[2]

They were fired shortly after they published the letter, the news of which garnered significant media attention.[12] Jane was both credited for sparking an important conversation about living wages,[13][14] and criticized for their method of delivery.[15][16] In an analysis for the Washington Post, writer Malcolm Harris noted that Jane was "pilloried in the media as just another entitled millennial who wanted things handed to them" but noted of the resulting wage increase: "Many large labor actions have achieved less".[17]

They said that they were told they were being terminated due to the Medium post, would receive severance of $1,000, and would not be allowed to return to work at Yelp.[18] Stoppelman denied that Jane's termination was related to the letter, and a spokesperson for Yelp stated, "We do not comment on personnel issues."[19] However, two weeks later, after former employee Jaymee Senigaglia wrote her own open letter, Yelp published justification for her termination on Twitter.[20][21]

In April 2016, Yelp raised the pay of Eat24 customer service representatives from $12.25 to $14 an hour, added 11 paid holidays (up from zero), and increased the number of days of paid time off from 5 to 15. Yelp did not reference Jane in its announcement and said that changes had been in the works since quarter 4 2015 – three months before Jane published their letter. Employees at Yelp reportedly disputed this claim and believed Jane was the "whistleblower" who prompted the changes.[2][22]

Awards and recognition

Jane was named one of Business Insider's 100 "most amazing and inspiring people in tech right now" as well as one of Inc's "25 Coolest Women in Silicon Valley," both of which credited their open letter for the subsequent conversations about living wages in Silicon Valley.[23][24]

In 2016, Jane spoke at XOXO Festival on the impact of online harassment.[25]

Personal life

Jane grew up in Concord, California with their mother, a practicing Wiccan, and near their father. At 10 years old, Jane unknowingly became an accomplice to spree killers Glenn Helzer, Justin Helzer, and Dawn Godman, after Jane's mother purchased movie tickets as an alibi for the trio. Their mother testified against the killers, and was later committed to a psychiatric ward; Jane went to live with their grandparents in Southern California.[2][26] They later wrote about the experience.[27]

In May 2019, Jane was the recipient of a sexually explicit message via Twitter that was sent to them by a Seattle Times reporter. The reporter was suspended by the Times[28][29][30] and resigned from the paper on June 7, 2019.[31]

References

  1. ↑ Bever, Lindsey (February 23, 2016). "The Yelp employee who wasn't making enough money to eat". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Smiley, Lauren (April 28, 2016). "The Revelations of Lady Murderface". Backchannel. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  3. 1 2 Mack, David (February 20, 2016). "This Woman's Post On Poverty Went Viral And She Lost Her Job". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Talia Jane". Mic. March 20, 2017. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Talia Jane". Vice. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Talia Jane". Allure. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Talia Jane". ELLE. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  8. ↑ "Talia Jane". The Guardian. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  9. ↑ "This is Not a Game: The Game". TBS.com. Archived from the original on June 7, 2018. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
  10. ↑ Tracy, Thomas (October 7, 2020). "Shea slams 'spoiled brat' protesters". Daily News. New York. p. 2. Retrieved November 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ Spearman, Kahron (November 16, 2020). "Video shows Proud Boys member punching journalist during 'Million MAGA March'". The Daily Dot. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
  12. ↑ Bergen, Mark (February 20, 2016). "Yelp Customer Service Employee Protests Low Pay in Medium Post, Is Promptly Fired". Vox. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  13. ↑ Golshan, Tara (February 24, 2016). "The controversy over a fired Yelp employee's open letter, explained". Vox. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  14. ↑ McKay, Tom (February 22, 2016). "This Yelp Employee's Open Letter to the CEO Has Sparked an Important Conversation". Mic. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  15. ↑ Bariso, Justin (February 22, 2016). "Emotional Intelligence 101: Why a Millennial's Letter to Yelp's CEO Got Her Fired". Inc.com. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  16. ↑ Pontefract, Dan (February 21, 2016). "Was Yelp Being Fair When It Fired Talia Jane?". Forbes. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  17. ↑ Harris, Malcolm (June 9, 2017). "Why do millennials keep leaking government secrets?". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  18. ↑ Jane, Talia (January 20, 2018). "Author of infamous letter to CEO says it 'destroyed their life'". New York Post. Retrieved January 20, 2018.
  19. ↑ Weinberger, Matt. "A Yelp employee publicly complained to the CEO that she couldn't afford to buy groceries — hours later, she was fired". Business Insider. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  20. ↑ Singletary, Michelle (March 3, 2016). "It's better to have a boss who's a jerk all the time". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
  21. ↑ Bowles, Nellie (March 2, 2016). "Yelp rejects complaint from fired single mother in latest high-profile public spat". The Guardian. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
  22. ↑ Truong, Alice (April 28, 2016). "Yelp increases wages after firing an employee who was critical about their low pay". Quartz. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
  23. ↑ Carson, Biz (July 6, 2016). "THE SILICON VALLEY 100: The most amazing and inspiring people in tech right now". Business Insider. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
  24. ↑ Martin, Emmie (July 14, 2016). "Icons of Entrepreneurship: 25 Coolest Women in Silicon Valley Right Now". Inc.com. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
  25. ↑ Talia Jane, Writer/Comedian - XOXO Festival (2016). XOXO Festival. Retrieved March 24, 2017 – via YouTube.
  26. ↑ "Episode 6: Talia Jane vs Yelp". There Are No Girls On The Internet. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  27. ↑ Jane, Talia (June 30, 2014). "7 Things I Learned as an Accomplice to Mass Murder". Cracked.com. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  28. ↑ Arnold, Amanda (May 6, 2019). "Seattle Times Reporter Suspended After Sending Writer Wildly Inappropriate DMs". The Cut. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
  29. ↑ Millman, Zosha (May 5, 2019). "Seattle Times reporter Mike Rosenberg suspended after sending sexually harassing messages". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  30. ↑ Levine, Jon (May 6, 2019). "Seattle Times Reporter Suspended After Sexual Harassment Accusations". TheWrap. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
  31. ↑ Millman, Zosha (June 11, 2019). "Report: Seattle Times reporter Mike Rosenberg resigns weeks after sending sexually harassing DMs". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
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