Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff angered some employees by making jokes about Immigration and Customs Enforcement during a company event, according to internal messages viewed by Business Insider.
Salesforce’s employee-only “Company Kickoff” is happening this week in Las Vegas. The event is also livestreamed internally. Business Insider did not view the livestream.
Salesforce did not immediately reply to requests for comment from Business Insider.
Dozens of Slack messages suggest that Benioff made “multiple” jokes about ICE agents, including about ICE surveilling employee travel.
“A joke about ICE surveilling employees’ travel, when there are literally employees afraid to travel for work due to current situation,” one employee wrote, according to a screenshot viewed by Business Insider.
“It’s hard to believe this company still has values when you make completely off-base jokes about ICE in your opening keynote,” another employee wrote. That’s unacceptable.”
“I’m deeply disappointed and uncomfortable that two jokes about ICE were made in the first few minutes of Marc’s opening keynote,” a third employee wrote. “The fact that the first was made after welcoming our teammates who traveled from outside the US? Even worse. We have many great things to be proud of and stand behind at this company, but these tasteless, insensitive jokes have made it hard to focus on that message. I’m going to have to take a break from watching to regroup.”
Benioff previously suggested that President Donald Trump should deploy the National Guard to San Francisco ahead of the company’s Dreamforce conference. Benioff later apologized.
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