Augmented reality startup Magic Leap is being sued for sexual discrimination by an executive who was hired to help it appeal to women. Tannen Campbell, whose lawsuit in Southern Florida District Court says she was a VP of marketing and brand identity, says in the complaint that she was hired by Rony Abovitz, the CEO by the Dania Beach, Florida-based company to "help with the pink/blue" problem, referring to the lack of women in leadership positions at the company.  Magic Leap CEO Rony Abovitz Getty A newly filed lawsuit by a former Magic Leap VP alleges that the company is a hostile working place for women, a condition that has led to the company missing internal deadlines, according to the complaint. A prototype described to Business Insider by a source as "the real wearable" and by CEO Abovitz as "R&D; test rig where we collect room/space data" shows a bulky backpack containing the device's computer power, although sources and the lawsuit describe the company's prototype as a "belt pack." The warnings were "ignored in favor of her male colleagues’ assertions that the images and videos presented on Magic Leap’s website and on YouTube were 'aspirational,' and not Magic Leap’s version of 'alternate facts,' " the lawsuit said in an apparent reference to U.S. President Donald J. Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway's infamous use of the term "alternative facts." From the complaint: 
 
 "The macho bullying atmosphere at Magic Leap fosters a dysfunctional culture which creates chaos and lack of process and structure, hinders the company from achieving key product deadlines (including launch, which has shifted back at least 4 times in Campbell's 1.5 years at the company) and, literally, prevented Campbell from doing the job she was hired to do or achieving the goals she and Abovitz had discussed during her initial interview: helping with the "pink/blue problem" or making Magic Leap less of a "boys club."" "All the engineers and others in predominately-male Magic Leap could conceive of to make the product female friendly was to produce a version in pink," the lawsuit alleges. Bhasin, Campbell and five other women from the company were involved in the initial meeting, in May 2016, alongside Abovitz, the vice-president of product design, Gary Natsume, and “a couple of male members of his team”. Campbell alleges that, in her first few months at Magic Leap, she was asked to put together a presentation to highlight the lack of gender diversity in the company. Eventually, Abovitz put together the "female brain trust initiative" (or FBI), headed up by Bhasin, to make sure Magic Leap product design and content was developed with women in mind. Campbell describes a “chaotic discussion”, in which a number of recommendations were made about a prototype design of Magic Leap’s hardware, “such as not having the headset connect in the back of the head because such a connection is difficult for people with ponytails or long hair”. The lawsuit said three or four core apps that the standard Magic Leap headset will end up shipping with included a game called "Dr. G," which had no lead female characters. The one female character in the narrative, who isn’t in the game itself, “is a busty woman depicted on her knees grovelling at the heroes’ feet in admiration”. As well as presenting an image of a company where Campbell’s efforts to create a female-friendly workplace and product were coolly received, the suit also alleges more direct tolerance of sexist comments and attitudes. According to Campbell's complaint, many of the executives at Magic Leap blocked her efforts to reform company policy before she was fired in late December. Advertisement 
 
 "Sadly, because Magic Leap seldom hires and does not actively recruit female candidates, the company loses competitive advantage to products like Microsoft's Hololens. "Microsoft, which employs far more females on its team, developed its similar product on a faster time line with more content that appeals to both genders," the complainant said. Magic Leap did not immediately return requests for comment.
– An augmented reality startup is being sued for sex discrimination by the very female executive it hired to make it less of a "boy's club," the Guardian reports. When Tannen Campbell was hired by Magic Leap in 2015, the Florida company had no women in leadership roles and its only idea to make its product female-friendly was to release a pink version, according to Forbes. The lawsuit filed by Campbell following her firing in December describes a "macho bullying atmosphere," Business Insider reports. That allegedly includes tolerating sexist and offensive behavior, such as telling new hires to stay away from "Orientals, Old People, and Ovaries" and having the only female character in a centerpiece app "on her knees grovelling at the heroes." Furthermore, Campbell alleges her efforts to change the culture at Magic Leap were consistently thwarted. The lawsuit states Campbell was asked to put together a presentation on the lack of gender diversity at the company, but it took seven months for Magic Leap's chief executive to show up for the presentation, and he left in the middle of it. Campbell says she and other female employees were ignored when giving input on the design of the product and its marketing. The lawsuit, which also alleges a hostile work environment and retaliation, claims the sexist culture at Magic Leap created a "dysfunctional" workplace and is part of the reason the company has yet to actually release a product despite being valued at billions of dollars.