Instacart fired employee over her Democratic campaign: Lawsuit

A former Instacart employee running for Congress alleges in a lawsuit that the company fired her out of concern that her Democratic political views could lead to backlash from the Trump administration.

Elizabeth Vedernikova Khanna, a candidate for Virginia’s 1st Congressional District, worked as chief of staff to Instacart’s chief corporate affairs officer since early 2023 and was terminated in June, according to the suit filed Sunday in San Francisco Superior Court.

Khanna, who goes by Lisa, accuses the grocery delivery giant of reversing its initial approval for her congressional bid after reviewing a copy of her campaign website’s policy positions, “specifically support for abortion rights and gun control.”

Instacart suddenly determined “that the potential risk of Republican backlash to the company outweighed Ms. Khanna’s right to run for public office,” alleges the lawsuit, which was first reported by The Washington Post earlier Monday.

Hours after that review took place, the San Francisco-based company “prohibited Ms. Khanna from running for Congress while keeping her job, ostensibly enforcing company rules and policies,” according to the suit.

“Less than two weeks later it terminated her because of her stated policy positions,” Khanna’s attorneys allege.

An Instacart spokesperson, in an emailed statement to CNBC, said, “Khanna’s claim that her separation from Instacart was somehow politically motivated is flat out false.”