‘Meatpistol’ presenters fired at Def Con In 2017, two Salesforce security engineers were fired after giving a presentation at
DEF CON discussing a Salesforce
pentesting framework called MEATPISTOL. MEATPISTOL was a Salesforce-developed exploit framework similar to (and named after)
Metasploit. Salesforce had previously planned to
open source the framework, but changed plans just before the presentation, and fired them immediately afterward The terminated employees called on the company to
open-source the
software after being dismissed.
RAICES donation refusal In 2018, the
not-for-profit organization
Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) rejected a US$250,000 donation from Salesforce, citing the company's contracts to provide technology services to
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. RAICES stated that accepting funds from a company supporting immigration enforcement conflicted with its mission to advocate for immigrant and refugee rights.
2018 taxes According to an
Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy analysis published in December 2019, Salesforce paid no federal income tax on its 2018 profits, achieving a 0% effective tax rate. The report attributed this to provisions in the 2017
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and available tax credits and deductions. Their findings were published in a report based on the 379
Fortune 500 companies that declared a profit in 2018.
Sex-trafficking lawsuit In March 2019, Salesforce faced a lawsuit by 50 anonymous women claiming to be victims and survivors of
sex trafficking, abuse, and rape, alleging the company profited from and helped build technology that facilitated sex trafficking on the now-defunct
Backpage.com. In March 2021, a judge granted partial dismissal of the case, dismissing charges of negligence and conspiracy, but allowed the case to proceed regarding charges of sex trafficking. In March 2024, the case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning the plaintiffs could potentially refile their claims in the future. In September 2024, the
US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied a motion to reverse the dismissal.
Disability discrimination lawsuit in Japan In July 2021, a former
Salesforce Japan employee sued the company in Tokyo District Court, alleging discrimination based on disabilities (autism and ADHD), including denial of reasonable workplace accommodations. Japanese law requires private companies to employ at least 2.3% disabled employees or pay a mandatory levy. Salesforce Japan failed to meet this threshold from 2009 to 2021 (except 2017) and did not report disabled employee numbers to labor officials in 2020. The firm declined to comment on the suit to the media. The ex-employee, who is
autistic with
ADHD, claimed she was discriminated against because of her disability and terminated from the firm's Japanese web marketing team. The suit alleged that the anonymous woman, as an employee at Salesforce Japan from 2018 to 2020, faced
hate speech,
microaggressions and rejection of
reasonable accommodation from the manager. She alleged that her attempts to resolve the problem were met with pressure from HR and job coach.
Employee layoffs/Matthew McConaughey's salary In January 2023, Salesforce reported that 8,000 employees had been laid off as a result of over-hiring during the
COVID-19 lockdowns and a global economic downturn. In March 2023, the
Wall Street Journal reported that actor
Matthew McConaughey received annual compensation of approximately $10 million as a 'creative advisor and TV pitchman.' The arrangement was disclosed amid scrutiny of executive spending during the company's major 2023 layoffs. American musician
will.i.am was also cited as being on the company's payroll due to his "strong understanding of technology".
Wrongful termination lawsuit In September 2024, former Salesforce Senior Director Dina Zelikson filed a lawsuit against the company in
San Francisco Superior Court, alleging wrongful termination, discrimination, and retaliation during a medical leave.
2025 layoffs and CEO declarations In September 2025, Benioff drew criticism after announcing that Salesforce had eliminated approximately 4,000 customer service roles following the deployment of AI-powered support agents. Speaking on
The Logan Bartlett Show podcast, he said the company reduced its support workforce from 9,000 to about 5,000 employees because he "need[ed] less heads." According to Salesforce, deployed AI agents handle approximately 50% of customer support interactions, with reported cost reductions of 17% relative to support operations in early 2025. The decision contrasted with Benioff's earlier remarks suggesting that artificial intelligence would augment, rather than replace, white-collar workers.
2026 AI-focused workforce reductions In February 2026, Salesforce initiated a new round of layoffs affecting approximately 1,000 employees across its marketing, product management, and data analytics departments. The cuts reportedly included staff from the Agentforce AI product team, the department responsible for the company's pivot to autonomous agents.
2026 company kickoff and ICE controversy During Salesforce's annual company kickoff in February 2026, CEO Marc Benioff made a series of jokes regarding
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). During a keynote address, Benioff asked international employees to stand and then quipped that "ICE agents were in the back of the room to keep tabs on them." The comments caused widespread outrage on internal
Slack channels, with employees circulating a letter demanding the company denounce ICE and halt the sale of Agentforce infrastructure to the agency. The incident led to a public rebuke from co-founder
Parker Harris, who stated he was "not OK" with the remarks. In March 2026, company president Robin Washington held a town hall to address "internal tensions" and the resulting leaks to the press regarding the incident. ==Salesforce Ventures==