Google's parent company, Alphabet Inc., is reeling from a string of allegations from current and former employees, not to mention the federal government, calling out sexism, political discrimination, and systemic underpayment of women and minorities. Oh, and then there's James Damore.
Earlier this month, Damore, a white male former Google engineer, filed a complaint against Alphabet Inc. to the National Labor Relations board. Partially obtained by Gizmodo, it stated that Google had “interfered with, restrained, and coerced employees in the exercise of rights” that are protected under an act preventing employees being penalised for taking part in a protected group activity. It goes on to argue that Google made “threats of unspecified reprisals against employees” because they were undertaking these kinds of activities.
Damore's legal complaint follows a ten-page memo he published on Google's internal social media platform that claimed biological differences between men and women may be why less women are in leadership roles. He also claimed female-only mentorship and training programs in the company were unfair and discriminatory as a result.
Legally, Google is within its right to fire Damore but the company now has to prove that it was not in retaliation to his complaint. To represent him, Damore has hired Harmeet Dhillon of Dhillon Law Group. Dhillon is a California national committeewoman for the Republican National Committee, and has served as vice-chair of the California Republican Party and chair of the San Francisco Republican Party.
Read more: Even the guy behind the research thinks that Googler is wrong
This week, the firm published a notice calling for anyone to come forward who had been “discriminated against at Google based on your political views or defamed/slandered/smeared/blacklisted at Google for your political views, or views about affirmative action at Google,” implying a class action lawsuit may be on the way. Dhillon did not respond to a request for comment. However, there are reports at least five people have come forward in addition to Damore. Motherboard also reported there are plenty within the company who support his views.
Google spokesman Ty Sheppard, while declined an interview, said in a statement that free expression is encouraged at Google, but only to a point. “We have strong policies against retaliation, harassment and discrimination in the workplace. We also strongly support the right of Googlers to express themselves. An important part of our culture is lively debate. But like any workplace that doesn't mean that anything goes,” he said, referring to a memo to employees published on August 8 by CEO Sundar Pichai.
But Google is facing a decidedly bigger problem than Damore: namely, claims that it has discriminated against women on a massive scale.
More than 60 current and former Google employees are considering launching a class action lawsuit alleging sexism and pay disparities against women. The case would be a blow to Google's ongoing denial that it systemically underpays women. In 2015, the US Department of Labor (DoL) forced the company to hand over thousands of salary records.
In July of this year, judge Steve Berlin ordered Google to provide a snapshot of data from 2014 onwards, as well as the contact information for thousands of its employees. The investigation suggests Google is violating federal employment laws by underpaying women.
The allegations began in 2015 after a routine audit by the DoL. At the time, employment data, including job title, gender, race, salary, bonuses, and incentives for around 21,000 workers at its headquarters in Mountain View, California were turned over, providing a snapshot of that year. The agency found “systemic compensation disparities against women pretty much across the entire workforce”. But to prove that a pay gap indicates discrimination and unlawful practices, the agency has been asking for more data, including salary histories for 25,000 employees dating back to when they first joined Google.
In the same year it received the audit, Google announced it had spent $115 million on diversity initiatives and was planning to spend another $150 million on a campaign to tackle not just its own diversity issues, but issues in the industry as a whole.
Google’s own demographic data shows women make up just 31 percent of the overall workforce, a one percent increase from 2016. If only looking at it's technical workforce, that figure drops to 20 per cent.
Despite two potential class action suits, the outcome remains hard to predict, especially in light of similar cases in recent years and the unpredictable nature of president Trump. In 2011, the US Supreme Court quashed the biggest sexual discrimination case in history against Walmart, saying the claims from 1.6 million women against the retailer was too big to bring to court. The company would have faced billions of dollars in claims if it had lost, but a majority of conservative judges ruled the women did not have enough in common for a pooled claim and that gender bias failed to meet the standard for class action cases.
In March of this year, Trump signed an executive order pulling back on Obama-era protections for female workers. The 2014 Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces, which was brought in after an investigation found companies with rampant violations were being awarded millions in federal contracts, ensured the contracts comply with 14 labor and civil rights laws. Those two rules included: pay check transparency and a ban on forced arbitration clauses for sexual harassment, sexual assault or discrimination claims.
In Google's case, the lawyers from the labor department have asked the court to cancel the company's federal contracts and block future business with the government if it refuses to comply with the audit.
With 60 women fighting for fair pay, Google believing it has done nothing wrong, and supporters of Damore pushing back the other way, the question now is where the company's beliefs and values really lie – and what it will do to fight for them.
Updated 25.08.17, 16:20: An amendment has been made to clarify the current status of discrimination claims against Google
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
