News to note 📝: How Pinterest’s former COO spent her $22M settlement – BlackRock’s bias reckoning – NZ’s miscarriage leave

The details of how former Pinterest COO Francoise Brougher spent the $22.5 million settlement she got from her gender bias suit against the virtual pinboard company emerged this week. We already knew that Pinterest and Brougher jointly donated $2.5 million to nonprofits that support underrepresented groups in tech. After paying taxes and attorney fees, Brougher set aside half of the remaining sum for a donor-advised fund also focused on that mission. The other half of the money was used to pay off her mortgage and to give directly to other mission-driven organizations, including those involved in medical research. [Time]

BlackRock, one of the world’s largest investment managers, is conducting an internal review following reports of discrimination and harassment at the firm from 12 former and current employees. The asset manager retained law firm Paul Weiss to conduct the audit, which CEO Larry Fink said will result in recommendations on how “we might further enhance our processes and procedures.” [Institutional Investor]

Also in the asset management world, Leon Black stepped down as chair of Apollo Global Management following an investigation into his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Black also resigned from his CEO role at Apollo earlier than was expected and is relinquishing his position as chair of the Museum of Modern Art. [NYT]

Former “Vaccine Czar” Moncef Slaoui, who led President Donald Trump’s Operation Warp Speed, was fired from his board position over allegations of sexual misconduct. Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, run by Emma Walmsley, said it terminated Slaoui as chairman of one of its medical companies after an investigation into allegations of “sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct” aimed at a  female colleague several years ago. “Since February, the highest levels of our company have been working to understand and address what happened. Protecting the woman who came forward and her privacy has been a critical priority throughout this time … I’ve spent many nights lately putting myself in her shoes,” Walmsley wrote in an email to employees. [WaPo]

Is the phrase “female founder” inhibiting or empowering? That’s the question posed by a recent LinkedIn post from Ashley Sumner, the CEO-founder of the social network Quilt. It’s an interesting issue that we think about basically all the time. Given our coverage of all the firsts and onlys when it comes to women in the workplace, it’s probably obvious where we stand. As the author of this piece points out, the unfortunate reality is that we live in a patriarchal society where the overwhelming number of founders and CEOs are male. We think that continuing to point this out and shout about it challenges the status quo and helps to effect change. [Forbes]  

New Zealand is leading the way, again, this time on providing bereavement leave for miscarriages. The country’s parliament unanimously approved a bill this week that would give three days of paid leave to parents who experience pregnancy loss, including those planning to have a baby through adoption or surrogacy. While some countries require employers to offer paid leave when a fetus is lost after 20 weeks or more, New Zealand appears to be the first to legislate leave for those who lose a pregnancy at any point. [NYT]

A 10-year-old got Tampa, Florida to remove “‘Men Working” signs around active construction areas. Fourth-grader Vivian Anderson sent a letter to the city’s mayor requesting that the signage be more inclusive, resulting in new “Workers Present” signs. A sweet note to end the week on! [GMA]