Leisy

I. BACKGROUND

Allbirds is best known for its minimalist and sustainable sneakers which incorporate ecofriendly materials such as recycled cardboard and plastic bottles. In 2019, Leisy was a Senior Designer at Allbirds. In July 2019, Weil applied for a position as a User Experience Designer in Allbirds’s Digital Product team. Although Leisy was not involved with the “user experience” elements of Allbirds’s designs, she agreed to participate in the last of three interviews the company conducted with Weil to provide an additional opinion on his candidacy and as a favor to the Digital Product team. The day after his interview, Weil sent Allbirds’s recruiter a thank you note which included presentation slides with advertising ideas he developed regarding the sustainability of Allbirds’s products. For example, Weil submitted an advertising mockup for an Allbirds shoe that was labeled with an environmental impact score within a circular design. The recruiter indicated she would forward Weil’s email to Leisy and another one of Weil’s interviewers, but none of the individuals responsible for the hiring decision viewed the slides at that time. In fact, within 24 hours of the interview,…