Airbnb hires Eric Holder for anti-discrimination policy

SAN FRANCISCO – Stung by complaints of discrimination and racism among some of its hosts,Airbnb has hired former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to help it craft an anti-discrimination policy.

The home rental company announced last month it would review all aspects of its platform with an eye to fighting bias and discrimination.

Critics have said that by creating a digital space that allowed individuals to choose to whom they rent apartments and houses, Airbnb unwittingly enabled its hosts to act on their biases.

A Harvard Business School study last year found widespread discrimination by Airbnb hosts. Renters who have said they were repeatedly turned down by hosts — a pattern that tended to reverse if they swapped their profile photo for one of a cityscape, for instance — have protested the racial discrimination under the hashtag #AirbnbWhileBlack.

Holder's hiring is part of Airbnb's efforts to deal with the problems that have arisen. He said he was looking forward to working with Airbnb to develop and implement what the company calls “a world-class” anti-discrimination policy.

“Airbnb is committed to building a community where everyone can belong, no matter who they are or what they look like. I'm eager to help them craft policies that will be the model for companies who share Airbnb's commitment to diversity and inclusion," he said in a statement.

Holder was U.S. Attorney General from 2009 to 2015, during which he championed the civil rights of minorities and gays. He left a year ago and rejoined his former law firm, Covington & Burling.

During his tenure, he oversaw a parallel civil rights inquiry into the shooting of Michael Brown by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Mo. During the inquiry his office issued written guidance to police across the country, identifying best practices to help police maintain public safety while safeguarding constitutional rights.

In a post on Wednesday, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said Airbnb has “an obligation to be honest about our own shortcomings, and do more to get our house in order.”

Chesky said one part of the process has been learning how to fight explicit racism and the implicit biases that can lead to discrimination.

To that end, the company also engaged anti-bias expert Robert Livingston of Harvard University to help it improve its unconscious bias training. It's previously brought on Laura Murphy, the former head of the American Civil Liberties Union's Washington, D.C. legislative office, to help lead the review of how hosts pick guests.

Livingston said that after meeting with senior Airbnb staff, “I’ve concluded that the organization has a sincere and profound interest in eliminating any and all discriminatory bias on its website, and is prepared to fight the problem using multiple tactics.”

The company has also created new staff positions that will work full-time to detect and address instances of discrimination, Chesky said.

He  acknowledged that Airbnb has been slow to address these issues. “We weren’t fully conscious of this issue when we designed the platform.”