Pinterest to announce new board member as employees stage virtual walkout over gender, racial discrimination claims

• Pinterest said it is planning to announce a new board member as its employees mobilize a protest against gender and racial discrimination at the company.
• The board member announcement comes days after former Pinterest chief operating officer Francoise Brougher brought a lawsuit against the company for gender discrimination.
• Pinterest employees have organized a virtual protest scheduled to take place on Friday.

Pinterest CEO Ben Silbermann speaks in conversation with Matthew Lynley of TechCrunch during the TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2017 on September 18, 2017 in San Francisco, California.

Justin Sullivan | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Pinterest on Friday said it is planning to announce a new board member as its employees mobilize a protest against gender and racial discrimination at the company.

"We can confirm a board announcement is coming soon, but have no further details to share at this time," a company spokeswoman told CNBC. 

Bloomberg was first to report the upcoming board member announcement. 

The board member announcement comes days after former Pinterest chief operating officer Francoise Brougher brought a lawsuit against the company for gender discrimination. Brougher also published a 4,000-word blog post in which she described a discriminatory, misogynistic and hostile work environment at the company. 

Pinterest employees have organized a virtual walkout scheduled to take place on Friday. Employees will sign off from work early in protest of the gender and racial discrimination at the company, according to a website and a petition for the protest.