You Need to Make This Right UXPA
A Story about Accountability, Community, and Healing
Chapter 1: Code of Conduct
“I know sometimes bad people happen. And they prey on others. I thought then we stopped them. Because MY COMMUNITY is better than that. But we live in a world where sane people allow dangerous people space to prey on others. That is beyond my understanding. That is beyond my tolerance. My safe world where I thought good people did the right thing has been shattered. I’m scared for the little girls and the big girls who know that when bad things happen, nothing will be done.
— Christina Wodtke, “Not Here”
It’s unsettling that a few days after I published this Fortune article discussing why I’m yet another woman retiring from the tech industry, the User Experience Professionals Association (UXPA) International announced Eric Reiss’s awarding of its Lifetime Achievement Award via an April 10th email titled, “Meet our Lifetime Achievement Award Winner at UXPA 2024.”
As someone who has spoken out about my experiences with discrimination and harassment in the tech industry and a member who has volunteered for UXPA— I believe this is unacceptable.
Reiss confirms in his own tweet below that he’s an accused sexual harasser. This includes being banned from attending Information Architecture (IA) Institute conferences due to multiple complaints about his conduct, as noted in a 2019 lawsuit he filed in an alleged attempt to harass 2018 and 2019 IA Conference Co-Chairs for enforcing the IA Code of Conduct.
The complaint, which was dismissed by the presiding judge, was widely discussed on social media and elsewhere, with the lawsuit even being mentioned on Reiss’s Wikipedia page.
Reiss’s inappropriate behaviors are additionally exemplified by his mocking individuals who shared feedback about a lecture he once gave, with his stating on Twitter, “Would you believe that someone actually accused me of violating a code of conduct? Sexual harassment — because I said ‘tits.’”
I’m keenly aware of how many men talk in vulgar ways about women’s bodies amongst other men, objectification that intentionally or not promotes sexual violence against women. Defending his use of the word “tits” on Twitter is an instance of objectifying women publicly. Reiss could have used feedback given as a moment for learning and reparation, but instead, he arrogently doubled down. It’s ironic that members of UXPA International leadership would someday exhibit similar behavior in connection to their affiliation with Reiss.
Please watch the full talk. In it, Reiss advises women repeatedly on how they should present themselves to be taken seriously in corporate contexts:
“Don’t let gender get in the way. One of the best project managers I ever knew was this incredibly beautiful blonde. She could have been a Playboy model, and she knew she looked good and wore very tight, revealing clothes. Lots of cleavage, whatever. And she got fired because her best client called her boss and said, ‘Don’t bring this woman to any more meetings because I’m tired of staring at her tits.’”
— Eric Reiss, 2014 Content Strategy Forum Conference
Among other biases, Reiss’s quote above exemplifies the Beauty is Beastly Effect, a phenomenon coined by academic researchers in which women perceived as attractive are viewed as more deserving of being fired. Hearing his words made my palms sweat as they immediately brought me back to an uncomfortable memory from my 20s when I was working for the Nevada State Legislature and was asked to change my shirt because a much older male legislator complained about how my top made him uncomfortable.
Women being judged by what they wear and how they look are some of the many ways they’re penalized at work for reasons other than performance and skill, as discussed in more depth in the book Glass Walls: Shattering the Six Gender Bias Barriers Still Holding Women Back at Work.
![A screenshot from a recording of Eric Reiss’ 2014 Content Strategy Forum Conference talk, in which he expresses his opinions on how women should appear in corporate contexts. “This woman [on the left], no matter how talented she might be, is probably not getting into the boardroom.”](https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/format:webp/1*HjSM2jad68R8vV8D6T5--Q.png)
I hope it’s now clear why, in selecting Eric Reiss for its Lifetime Achievement Award, the UXPA International leadership team is condoning sexual harassment, sexual assault, and discrimination.
A long list of accomplished user experience professionals could have been chosen for the award through what should have been a highly rigorous vetting process. Yet, UXPA International leadership selected Reiss and, in doing so, violated its commitment to “Do No Harm” per its own Code of Professional Conduct.
I also want to highlight how the UXPA International leadership team recognizing such a controversial person prompted me to look into past recipients. It seems in the fourteen years UXPA International has granted its Lifetime Achievement Award, not one person of color has been selected.
In an April 17th episode of his podcast, UX Professor Darren Hood mentions a “UX Illuminati” effect caused by a certain level of gatekeeping and nepotism among some with influence in the UX community. Might this help explain a lack of more diverse award recipients and Reiss’s nomination? This won’t make sense just yet, but let me plant this seed here: #uxfriends.
Important insight: 81% of women in the U.S. report experiencing some form of sexual harassment and/or assault in their lifetime.
Recommended reading: “Why Some Women Defend Abusive Men” — Blackburn Center
Chapter 2: Unforeseen Circumstances
“To be excluded or dehumanized in an organization, community, or society you are part of, results in prolonged, uncontrollable stress that is sensitizing. Marginalization is a fundamental trauma.”
— Bruce Perry, What Happened to You
Following a public demand to do so, the UXPA International leadership team swiftly rescinded Eric Reiss’s Lifetime Achievement Award, citing “unforeseen circumstances.” Sara Mastro, UXPA International President, emailed me stating, “UXPA International will not be offering further comment on this matter.”
Too often, organizations and their representatives respond to sexual harassment, sexual assault, and discrimination with silence, gaslighting, or vague communication. While its action in rescinding Eric Reiss’s Lifetime Achievement Award is laudable, the UXPA International leadership team is perpetuating further harm in not directly acknowledging its error and harm done, issuing a public apology, and thoughtfully discussing what it can do differently in the future.
How? As revealed by an abundance of research conducted over the past few decades, “sexual harassment, even at relatively low frequencies, exerts a significant negative impact on women’s psychological well-being and, particularly, job attitudes and work behaviors.” When organizational leaders refuse to publicly oppose actions that condone sexual harassment, tolerance levels for such behavior dangerously increase. This is verified by Stanford sociologists, who also note that brushing such actions under the rug “amounts to institutional betrayal, which can compound the trauma suffered by victims.”
I assume the UXPA International leadership team's lack of appropriate response is partially due to fear of legal retaliation from Reiss, who, as mentioned above, has a history of engaging in litigious actions against those who attempt to hold him accountable. This aligns with past UXPA International board member and president Cory Lebson, someone I’ve worked with and whose book I volunteered to contribute to, sending me, unprompted, the LinkedIn message below.
As a woman who has been through the grueling process of being a plaintiff in an especially public discrimination and sexual harassment lawsuit while simultaneously working full-time during the COVID-19 pandemic and caring for a baby and toddler, I’m intimately familiar with the fear of litigation, something I didn’t need Lebson to explain to me. I spent years of my life, daily, in an elevated state of panic, worried about what the future held for myself and my family.
Asking me to empathize with the feelings of the UXPA International leadership team in the way Lebson does is an example of interpersonal sexism. Because women just need to be more empathetic, even when they’re being oppressed, right?
(Assume positive intent. Everyone makes mistakes. It must be a miscommunication. These are all similar types of rhetoric women often encounter in instances of institutional betrayal.)
I hope it’s understandable why I don’t think Lebson’s past fear of being sued for UXPA International not having enough money to pay conference expenses in full justifies his lack of any demonstration of empathy for me (FYI, as revealed by one 2019 national survey, most men in the U.S. don’t view sexual harassment as a problem). This type of behavior, in fact, is a major contributor to the enablement of women being exploited in professional settings, sexually and otherwise.
As discussed in this Time article, men with influence who sexually prey upon women are frequently protected by “a cascade of tiny choices made by dozens of individuals, who fear for their own fates.” Oftentimes, such individuals band together in a hive-like mentality to protect themselves while leaving victims, sometimes even people they know, in a state of isolation while navigating a significant power imbalance throughout the journey of seeking accountability as a means of healing.
Being ostracized in this way is one of the most painful parts of speaking out as a survivor and is a wound of mine that this narrative reopened.
Conflicted, I held off for a few weeks before folding Lebson into this narrative until I started to feel I was subjugating myself — as I’ve done in the past and as many women do in these situations — in trying to protect him despite his being a character of significance. The psychology here is one of the many reasons why women don’t report sexual misconduct.
In a vulnerable moment, given our history, I reached out to Lebson after writing about him. My hope was that through reading my words above, he might respond with empathy that I could highlight and celebrate to facilitate healing across all parties. Lebson’s immediate reaction was to ask, “You are trying to blackmail me or threaten me with something else?” I’m not surprised he left this out of his LinkedIn article, “I was cyberbullied; this is not ok.”
I should have disengaged, but my heart wanted to avoid losing the relationship, so I continued the conversation. Mind you, Lebson is someone I met not long after becoming a user researcher, and I spent a decent amount of time in my career looking up to him as an unofficial mentor (as he mentions on LinkedIn, we’ve exchanged “500+ positive messages over the years”).
Lebson eventually apologized, but his apology narrative on LinkedIn doesn’t align with my records of our conversation, including leaving out that he sort of rescinded the apology.
I responded with appreciation, Hey, thanks for this, Cory, acknowledging that apologizing isn’t easy and reassuring him it would be okay, It’s not done. I was relieved to be able to discuss our coming to an understanding and showcase in this story that it’s never too late to apologize, Please know you are helping a lot of people here. In his LinkedIn article, Lebson says these words scared him.
Not long after replying, I saw Lebson’s LinkedIn post below for the first time regarding his enthusiasm for seeing his #uxfriends at the upcoming 2024 UXPA International Conference. With his language being similar to rhetoric I had already written about critically, something suddenly felt off in my gut and feelings of subjugation emerged once again. My instinct was to then block Lebson (hence the warning message he saw when he viewed my message).
A few days later, Lebson mirrored victim-playing accusations Jennifer Romano Bergstrom had previously cast in publishing his LinkedIn article accusing me of cyberbullying. (Here’s also a PDF copy of the article, which I saved on 05/17/24).
Through silence, the UXPA International leadership team is increasing tolerance levels for the mistreatment of women, further hurting survivors within the UX community. Accountability is important for healing and change; the women impacted by the UXPA International leadership team’s behaviors deserve an apology and a thoughtful discussion.
Recommended reading: “Male Allyship Is About Paying Attention” — W. Brad Johnson and David G. Smith
Chapter 3: I’m Sorry You Feel That Way
“When the culture of any organization mandates that it is more important to protect the reputation of a system and those in power than it is to protect the basic human dignity of the individuals who serve that system or who are served by that system, you can be certain that the shame is systemic, the money is driving ethics, and the accountability is all but dead.”
— Brene Brown, Braving the Wilderness, The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone
The other day, I noticed that Jennifer Romano Bergstrom wrote the LinkedIn post below, reflecting on the state of the UX community in the aftermath of the Reiss situation. #uxfriends
I shared feedback trying to help Romano understand how her language might feel alienating to survivors, especially given her status as a past UXPA International board member and president. With her being the co-chair of the upcoming 2024 UXPA International Conference, I was also worried that her cutesy choice of words might discourage attendees from coming to her or others for help if needed.
Romano responded, “I’m sorry if you perceive this as ‘toxic positivity’ and gaslighting.” She continued, “I encourage you to run for office so you can run it as you see fit. You can! Do it!”
This was yet another reopening of an old wound, given the many times people told me, “I’m sorry you feel that way,” as I was navigating workplace harassment and discrimination. A common form of gaslighting called “The Disguised Apology” — Gaslight #1 — such language is often used to deflect and place blame onto victims, as well as those who call out perpetrators and their enablers.
Romano’s commentary is an informative case study of common forms of gaslighting used by organizational leaders to distance themselves from culpability following wrongdoing—sometimes intentionally and other times unconsciously, as is maybe the case here. Let me further deconstruct her words, noting the additional four types of gaslighting present.
Gaslight #2: Toxic Positivity
“Let’s not let negative things dampen the power and fun we have as a group!”
Toxic positivity “is the belief that no matter how dire or difficult a situation is, people should maintain a positive mindset.” According to Whitney Goodman, author of the book Toxic Positivity, “The core of toxic positivity is that it’s dismissive and it shuts down the conversation,” creating a barrier to harmed people receiving support and increasing the likelihood of misconduct happening again in the future.
In emphasizing “fun” in her post and referring to the UXPA International leadership’s actions as an obscure “negative thing,” Romano engages in toxic positivity. This becomes more obvious when you replace the words “negative thing” with what Romano is specifically downplaying: “Let’s not let the UXPA awarding a known sexual harasser a lifetime achievement award dampen the power and fun we have as a group!”
Gaslight #3: Perpetrators as Victims
“I would like to remind my colleages that orgnizatations, like UXPA, are 100% run by volunteers. Our colleagues and friends volunteer their time to create and provide resources to us, the community...”
Playing the victim is a common way gaslighters guilt people into excusing harmful behaviors. It’s subtle, but Romano does this by pulling at heartstrings in repeatedly referring to the UXPA International leadership team as “friends.” No one wants to hurt a friend, right? The subliminal message: holding the UXPA International leadership team accountable to do the right thing = hurting a friend.
Playing the victim is consequential because “when gaslighters play the victim, it causes more difficulties for actual victims of harassment…[People] start questioning whether claiming to be a victim is a “real” thing — and that may stop people who are truly victims from speaking out.”
Gaslight #4: Accountability Avoidance
“We all make mistakes.”
It’s often the case that sexual harassment and assault victims are accused of overreacting, yet another behavior that directs blame onto victims. In downplaying the UXPA leadership team’s ongoing actions that condone sexual harassment, sexual assault, and discrimination as a simple “mistake,” Romano is communicating that those speaking out are overreacting.
The form of gaslighting here reinforces harmful stereotypes about women’s emotions that enable those complicit in the abuse of women. As noted in “The Sociology of Gaslighting,” this is because “systematically associating another person with irrationality in a power relationship is a gender-based strategy that reinforces power dynamics.”
Gaslight #5: This Is Your Fault
“I encourage you to run for office so you can run it as you see fit. You can! Do it!”
It’s not my job to help fix sexual biases and abuses, just like it’s not my job to explain how patronizing it is to tell a whistleblower like me, “You can do it!” Yet here I am, like so many women who have experienced these things, doing the job.
In sandwiching a CTA of running for office within her post, Romano is again diverting attention away from the UXPA International leadership team and directing accountability elsewhere: onto you and me. “If only more people were involved, this wouldn’t have happened,” is Romano’s subtext, which, in other words, is a statement of “This is all your fault” gaslighting.
My Friends
When left unchecked, instances of gaslighting like the aforementioned empower people of status within organizations to engage in further misbehavior. This creates an unsafe environment for reflection and discussion, a crucial activity in the prevention of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and discrimination.
Case in point: Romano eventually accused me of using my experiences with sexual harassment and discrimination as leverage to “bully” and “single-handedly” bring down the UXPA. I suspect it’s not a coincidence that the timing of these allegations appears to align with companies starting to rescind their sponsorship of the UXPA 2024 International Conference.
Notice Romano’s repeated use of the words “my friends” as a claim of majority status to reinforce her accusations and make me question myself. If there were a playbook for how to silence people from marginalized populations asking for accountability, this would align with a recommended best practice one would find there.
An organizational leader ostracising someone and making an accusation of being harassed in response to that person providing feedback is an example of weaponized victimhood, a type of rhetoric that reinforces “inequalities of class, gender, and race.”
Recommended reading: Preventing Sexual Harassment Guide — Chloe Grace Hart and Marianne Cooper
Recommended reading: “Reporting sexual harassment: The role of psychological safety climate” — Sarah Singletary Walker et al.
Chapter 4: A Statement and a Threat
“As journalists, academics, legislators and bloggers across the country have recognised, [defamation] lawsuits are increasingly used by corporations, businesses, public officials as a weapon to silence, intimidate and control what constitutes the truth.”
— Defamation: The Weapon of Choice to Stifle Pursuit of Justice and Free Speech
Having spent two years of my life in litigation, I wish I could candidly share what it feels like to be threatened with a lawsuit by an organization I started volunteering for in 2011. But I won’t because I know that stigmas often lead to the discrediting of women who show emotion, a situation I want to avoid given the nature of the accusations being directed at me that you’ll see more of below.
What I can say is that public discourse is an important means to shine “a light on the way in which our systems have served to silence survivors and protect perpetrators.”
Someone discussing documented behaviors they believe condone misconduct against women is not illegal, and I’m not engaging in criminal activity that could warrant jail time, as has been inferred. Nevertheless, this is commonly how these situations play out, with organizations and financially privileged people like Reiss abusing the legal system as a means of intimidation, often while simultaneously emphasizing a commitment to values like “community” and “respect” in an act of performative allyship for all to see.
It’s important to mention that the use of strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP suits) to silence sexual harassment and assault survivors is on the rise. Fortunately, to counter this, anti-SLAPP laws are increasingly being enacted to prohibit “lawsuits that are meant to silence speech that’s protected by the First Amendment, state constitutions, and other statutes.”
Tying everything together, the specific psychological tactic being used by the UXPA International leadership team, which you saw a glimpse of in earlier chapters and becomes even more apparent in this chapter, is DARVO: deny, attack, and reverse victim and offender. The attack and reverse victim and offender phases tend to intensify as the light shone on misbehavior gets brighter, as is the case with the UXPA International leadership team’s escalating crazymaking as this story continues.
A note to Rich: regarding your choice of words, “I think its time you and I had a talk..,” I’m a 41-year-old woman, mother, and professional, not a girl to be schooled with an unfounded threat of a legal spanking from someone condescendingly presenting themselves as a scolding father figure. It’s too often that women are infantilized like this, a phenomenon that research shows reinforces harmful gender stereotypes and causes psychological damage to women.
Important insight: 68% of sexual harassment charges filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) include an allegation of retaliation.
Recommended reading: “When Sexual Assault Victims Speak Out, Their Institutions Often Betray Them” — Jennifer Freyd
Chapter 5: Protecting Members of Our Community
“The bigger muzzle on the voices of [sexual harassment and assault] victims is still the most mundane of human habits, the disinclination of non-victims to make a noise or protest about something that didn’t happen to them.”
Relieved not to have received the threatened cease and desist yesterday, I looked forward to a good night’s rest last night. Unfortunately, though, a racing heart kept me up for the third night in a row this week. This often happens before I become fully conscious of something my mind and body are working through amid challenging situations.
As I sluggishly poured another cup of coffee into my Fix Systems Not Women mug after getting the kids dressed for school this morning, some clarity surfaced: this story, as it’s emerged, is so much more than a story about a “mistake” made by the UXPA International leadership team. It’s another example, like many that have made the news in recent years, of behaviors that are insidiously rolling back civil rights, including women’s rights.
I think, even more significant, this is also a story of how communities can fight back and support survivors when these circumstances happen.
“Activism is an important aspect of changing the landscape of sexual violence.” I assume Gunther didn’t act on his threat because of the opposing public response, a beautiful example of ally activism, which “can facilitate powerful change that benefits and supports survivors.”
I wrote this story while moving my family to a different city in preparation for starting law school. My tech worker story, this story, my future law school story, they’re all part of an emerging series of insight and closure. Sharing one’s experiences and engaging in activism can be critical tools in healing and regaining a sense of power for survivors, so I’m thankful that the allyship demonstrated supports me in continuing to write and use my voice, hopefully well into the future.
Observing the UX community — including several local UXPA chapters — oppose the UXPA International leadership team’s behaviors gifted me a renewed sense of belonging to the UX community, something I’m grateful for given a loss of professional identity and feelings of estrangement are common for survivors and something I’ve struggled with for a few years now. The synergy I felt made something click in my brain, helping me see that I’m still a user researcher, defining what it means to be a future human-centered attorney.
Important insight: PTSD occurs in roughly 94% of U.S. women who have been sexually assaulted.
Recommended reading: “From Pain to Power: An Exploration of Activism, the #MeToo Movement, and Healing From Sexual Assault Trauma” — Charlotte Strauss Swanson and Dawn M. Szymanski.
Chapter 6: When Women Blow the Whistle
“While writing this book, I endured being hacked, stalked, spied on, had parts of this manuscript stolen. My life was infiltrated by Israeli spies and harassing lawyers. These evil people hounded me at every turn. I can only say it was extraordinarily stressful, an incredible high-wire act that required great strategy.”
— Rose McGowan, Brave
To recap, in response to writing this story, I’ve been accused of committing both civil and criminal crimes, attempting to take down an international organization, being a “shame” to the UX community, and more. I’ve also been subject to multiple instances of explicit sexism. It’s not uncommon for women to be vilified like this for saying this isn’t okay, a phenomenon called the “Third-Victimization” of survivors.
I’ll let you infer how the UXPA International leadership team’s behaviors affect someone with my history, all of the survivors out there who watched this saga unfold, and the many women in UX who will someday experience sexual harassment, sexual assault, and/or discrimination.
As is often the case with these types of stories, this happened because members of the UXPA International leadership team chose to prioritize their echo chamber of “friends” and collectively act through self-interest instead of listening to and protecting their marginalized constituents, a path that would have been much easier and would have saved a lot of people from a lot of harm done.
Doesn’t it sound unbelievable that this all occurred, especially within the small community of UX made up of professionals who pride themselves on being empathy-driven? But it did happen because even in 2024, these types of stories remain common in all types of communities, big and small. I know this not only from my experiences and data but also from the women who continue to reach out to me weekly asking for advice on how to navigate misconduct — many of these people being women in UX.
When my tech industry scars have further faded, perhaps I’ll comment more here or elsewhere on how this story sheds light on the long-term challenges whistleblowers like me experience.
Recommended reading: “The Costs and Labour of Whistleblowing: Bodily Vulnerability and Post-disclosure Survival” — Kate Kenny and Marianna Fotaki
Recommended reading: “Female Whistleblowers Face More Retaliation” — Kim Elsesser
Chapter 7: Words Can Hurt and Words Can Heal
“Employees who bring up inclusivity issues in the workplace are usually the ones experiencing them — vulnerable people with marginalized identities. And when they bring them up, it’s because they’re trying to escalate the issue to the people who may be able to solve it. They’re looking for leadership to take responsibility.”
— Sameera Kapila, Inclusive Design Communities
On April 10th, I had the great fortune of talking with AnitaB.org CEO Brenda Darden Wilkerson via the podcast “B The Way Forward” (recording coming soon), a conversation in which we discussed how words matter in walking the daily walk of allyship. Just ten minutes after our discussion concluded, I learned that UXPA International awarded Reiss its Lifetime Achievement Award, prompting me in a moment of deja vu to immediately start writing, a tool that’s been an important part of my healing process.
Little did I know then that the article I initially set out to write would morph into what you see here now. I did my best along the way to use my knowledge to put a name to the behaviors exhibited by characters in this tale, an empowering strategy I learned from gender equity researchers Amy Diehl and Leanne Dzubinskithat.
This isn’t an excuse for the UXPA International leadership team’s wrongdoing, but even I don’t always get the words right. I would be a hypocrite if I didn’t acknowledge I can recall several instances in which I know my ignorant and privileged words have hurt people; no doubt there are many additional situations in which I’ve caused pain that I’m unaware of through my choice of words. Allyship is a path of learning that requires constant self-reflection, humility, and accountability. To the people I’ve harmed with my words, I’m sorry.
Saying those two words isn’t so hard. And it feels good, too.
I hope that through my documentation, this saga will be less likely to happen in the future and that learnings will be carried forward so that UX organizations and teams can thrive as safe places for all to learn and grow. For UX women navigating their own similar stories, please know that you’re not alone in your experiences, and let this story bring you some validation and insight into how you might fight back.
If you walk away with just one thing after reading this, I hope it’s that words matter. Thank you to the people who have taken the time to read my words here and to those who used their words to support survivors by giving this story a happy ending.
You get discouraged, don’t you, girl?
It’s your brother’s world for a while longer
We gotta dance with the devil on a river
To beat the stream
Call it living the dream, call it kicking the ladder
They come to kick dirt in your face
To call you weak and then displace you
After carrying your baby on your back across the desert
I saw your eyes behind your hair
And you’re looking tired, but you don’t look scared
Let ’em laugh while they can
Let ’em spin, let ’em scatter in the wind
I have been to the movies, I’ve seen how it ends
And the joke’s on them
A Timeline of Events
04/05/2024: UXPA International announces Eric Reiss as the winner of its Lifetime Achievement Award on uxpa.org, emphasizing his allyship to women, “He created friends.”
04/10/2024: UXPA International sends an email to its members titled “Meet our Lifetime Achievement Award Winner at UXPA 2024,” which causes a public backlash
04/10/2024: The UXPA International BOD emails UXPA members announcing their rescinding of the Lifetime Achievement award “Due to unforeseen circumstances.”
04/10/2024: I start writing this Medium story
04/10/2024: UXPA International President Sara Mastro sends me an email stating, “UXPA International will not be offering further comment on this matter.”
04/14/2024: Steve Portigal, Jemma Ahmed, and Megan Blocker create an open letter opposing the UXPA International leadership team’s behaviors and asking for certain actions to be taken
04/15/2024: Around this date, companies start rescinding their sponsorship of the 2024 UXPA International Conference.
04/18/2024: 2024 UXPA International Conference Co-Chair Jennifer Romano Bergstrom publishes a LinkedIn post about the 2024 UXPA Conference — #uxfriends. I comment with feedback.
04/21/2024: UXPA International past board member and president Cory Lebson sends me a LinkedIn message unprompted, asking me to be empathetic of the BOD
04/23/2024: Jennifer Romano Bergstrom comments on one of my LinkedIn posts accusing me of harassment, “I also have experienced sexual misconduct in the workplace, and I am not using my story to attack my friends…cyberbullying is…”
04/25/2024: Jennifer Romano Bergstrom shares a video on LinkedIn again accusing me of cyberbullying, emphasizing that such behavior is a criminal crime that could warrant jail time
04/29/2024: Jennifer Romano Bergstrom comments on one of my LinkedIn posts accusing me of “single-handedly” trying to bring down the UXPA and of being “a shame” to the UX community
04/30/2024: The UXPA International BOD posts a statement on LinkedIn accusing people opposing the UXPA International leadership team’s behaviors of libel, a civil crime
04/30/2024: Rich Gunther, UXPA International Executive Director, sends me a LinkedIn message stating that I will receive a cease and desist demand letter the next morning
05/09/2024: Steve Portigal, Jemma Ahmed, and Megan Blocker share on LinkedIn that their open letter reached 500 signatures
05/09/2024: Cory Lebson shares a LinkedIn post about his enthusiasm for seeing his #uxfriends at the 2024 UXPA International Conference. On this same day, he says to me, “You are trying to blackmail me or threaten me...”
05/13/2024: ARCS from Marketing Systems Group joins other companies in rescinding their sponsorship of the 2024 UXPA International Conference, including Centralis, the University of Miami, Key Lime Interactive, UserTesting, and Tobii. (others?)
05/14/2024: Complaint Filed (Case Number: 19-CB-342206) with National Labor Relations Board for attempting to prohibit members from discussing their rights and organizing.
05/13/2024 (original story)–04/14/2024 (edited to include “cyberbullied” accusation): Cory Lebson publishes a LinkedIn story titled, “I was cyberbullied; this is not ok (And why we MUST accept each other.” “After talking to UX friends…”
05/14/2024: The following UXPA International BOD vacancies are announced: Director of Chapters, Director of DEI (new), Director of Partners and Sponsorship, and Director of Publications. (It’s not certain if this is because board members resigned early or their terms were coming to an end)
06/01/2024: Past UXPA Board Member and 2016 UXPA Lifetime Achievement Award winner Susan Dray comments on one of my LinkedIn posts, “Asking for accountability? By whom? Reiss? Seek it from him, not UXPA! It’s time to recognize the Board’s integrity. And please stop the bullying. Jen is 100% right now-that’s exactly what you’re doing!”
06/10/2024: Rich Gunther is no longer listed on the UXPA International website as the UXPA International Executive Director
