Hi! We hope you read our list of terrific 2019 happenings vis a vis workplace gender equality because guess what? We’re really not very happy with how things are kicking off on that front in 2020, so we hope you enjoyed the joy while it lasted.

Specifically, we’re talking about the number of female board members and executives at the companies that have filed for IPOs so far this year. Buzzy mattress startup Casper, which is selling us on the dream of blissful sleep while selling our dreams of gender equality pretty darn short, has just one female executive out of seven listed on its filing and only 25 percent of its board is female. Four of the companies that filed had zero female board members! 

We're not very far into 2020 but, people, we're looking at an average of just 12 percent of board seats held by women — down from 20 percent over the same period last year (!!!) — and every single company that filed had a male CEO. We'd insert the headdesk emoji but it's more like headfloor — or, actually, headearthcore, since really that's how shocking and abysmal this is. Read the story. And, relatedly, if you missed our piece last year on how to get on a corporate board give it a read. Obviously, huge institutional inequities must be addressed to make this doable for most qualified women, but let's be ready.  

The other big thing we’ve been tracking since the start of the year is the Harvey Weinstein rape trial. We're updating the post as the trial progresses, so check back often to get up to speed on the proceedings, which — no matter which way things go — will reveal a lot about how the criminal justice system deals with powerful men being held to account in the era of #MeToo. 

Here are a handful of other major stories in the Boss Betty milieu that we've had our eyes on recently:

 BBC presenter Samira Ahmed won her equal pay case against the broadcaster, leaving it open to a hefty bill for similar claims by other female staff. [Guardian]

 Alphabet’s General Counsel David Drummond, who has been accused of inappropriate workplace relationships, is resigning. [Vox]

 Away's Steph Korey is back in as CEO after briefly resigning the post following reporting that found she created a toxic culture at the luggage startup. [NYT] 

 "Movies about a sentient Volkswagen named Herbie" is one of the items on this hilariously sad list of "things that outnumber women who’ve been nominated for an Oscar for best director." [McSweeney's]

 The U.K.'s outgoing Supreme Court President Lady Brenda Hale said it was time for law firms to stop requiring women to wear high heels. [Telegraph]

 CES still doesn't get "the Woman Thing" right. [Cosmo]