Reuters
- An ex-TikTok worker claims the company hid the involvement of ByteDance, Fortune reported.
- Evan Turner said he had check-ins with a ByteDance exec in Beijing and never met his American boss.
- The claims come as TikTok fights legislation forcing a sale of the Chinese-owned app.
A former TikTok employee said the company tried to hide the involvement of Chinese owner ByteDance in his work by assigning him to a manager in Seattle, whom he never met.
Evan Turner, a former senior data scientist, told Fortune he was being managed by a Beijing-based ByteDance executive when he joined the company.
Turner worked at TikTok from April to September 2022, Fortune reported. He claimed he was placed under the management of an American manager in Seattle later in his employment. However, he said he was told in a video call that he would actually still work under the Beijing manager, the report said.
He added that he never met the American manager and claimed the opaque management structure differed from what executives at TikTok maintained about it operating independently from ByteDance.
Turner told Fortune that he met with the Beijing-based executive weekly, which consisted of meetings under seven minutes to report on his progress with tasks.
In a comment to Fortune, a TikTok spokesperson disputed the claims from Turner and the outlet's other sources in broad terms."These are completely unfounded assertions brought forth by disgruntled ex-employees," the person said. "It is incredible that Fortune would solely rely on individuals with clear motives and agendas to spread anonymous lies and distortions."
TikTok didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. Turner was unable to be reached for comment by BI.
The claims come as TikTok and ByteDance try to fend off legislation aimed at forcing a sale.
TikTok is facing a ban in app stores unless ByteDance sells it to non-Chinese owners. A new bill proposing the ban was passed last month by the House.
US lawmakers said in a statement announcing the bill that apps like TikTok are "controlled" by foreign players and "pose an unacceptable risk to US national security." But TikTok has insisted that it's run independently and has tried to distance itself from ByteDance.