Pinterest recently agreed to pay $ 34.7 million to resolve a demand for an early advisor who said he had cooked the platform without compensation.
Christine Martínez, 44, who was a friend of Ben Silbermann and Paul Sciarra, two of the three co -founders of Pinterest, headquarters to the company in 2021 for breach of the implicit contract, theft of ideas, unfair enrichment and unfair commercial practices. He said that he came up with many ideas for the application, such as organizing images in “boards”, but he was never paid for his contributions, despite the promises it would be.
Pinterest, a virtual Pinboard company that has many female users, revealed the agreement with Mrs. Martínez in November 2024 Financial Presentation.
“Nobody wants to be in the litigation process, and I am very excited and, frankly, relieved to be past,” said Mrs. Martínez in an interview on Friday.
“Mrs. Martínez tested beneficial marketing and community growth and the strategies duration of the early phase of the Pinterest Foundation”, according to a statement that was part of the agreement, which was provided by Mrs. Martínez. “The parties are pleased to solve this inherited matter.”
Pinterest declined to comment.
The agreement follows a series of complaints and legal disputes against Pinterest by some of its employees and executives.
In 2020, Pinterest paid $ 22.5 million to resolve a gender discrimination demand presented by Françoise Bougher, its former operations director, who said she was fired after experiencing a sexist treatment in the company. That same year, more than 200 employees signed a petition demanding that the company change its policies after three former workers accused Pinterest of racial and sexual discrimination and reprisals.
Mr. Silbermann, who was the executive director of Pinterest, left that role in 2022.
Mrs. Martínez, who had experience in electronic commerce and interior design, said in her demand that Mr. Silbermann and Mr. Sciarra sought her advice for the company that became Pinterest a year before it was founded in 2010.
He said that he came up with the idea of the image boards and the phrase “Pin It” of the signature of the platforms, and also helped persuade the design and lifestyle bloggers to use and promote the site. A part of the Pinterest programming code bears his name in tribute, according to the demand.
He never signed a formal contract with Pinterest, but it was implicit that it would be possible to be compensated, he said. Pinterest was made public in 2019 and has a market capitalization of more than $ 18 billion.
Mrs. Martínez is now a member of the Board and strategic advisor of Jingo, an online AI purchase platform that serves women.
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