Google Class Action Claims Tech Giant Discriminates Against Black Employees

Google Racial Discrimination Class Action Lawsuit Overview:

• Who: A Black former Google employee is suing the tech giant on behalf of all current and former Black employees.
• Why: The plaintiff alleges a company culture of race discrimination against Black employees.
• Where: The lawsuit was filed in California federal court.

Google has a culture of racial discrimination against Black employees, using them to try to improve its public image while simultaneously putting those same people in “dead-end jobs” behind closed doors, a new class action lawsuit alleges. 

Plaintiff April Curley, a former Google employee, filed the class action complaint against Google, LLC Mar. 18 in a California federal court, alleging violations of federal equality laws and New York human rights laws.

Curley was hired in 2014 to expand Google’s outreach to Black college students. However, she alleges she was placed in a lower job grade and title than her work and responsibilities warranted and denied pay and promotion opportunities because of her race like other Black employees.

“Google famously adopted ‘don’t be evil’ as a core value in its early days. Yet as it grew into one of the world’s largest corporate behemoths, Google practiced one of this nation’s oldest evils—race discrimination,” the lawsuit states. “Pursuant to its strong, racially biased corporate culture, Google is engaged in a pattern and practice of race discrimination against its African American and Black employees.” 

Curley says Google’s centralized leadership, which is nearly devoid of Black representation, holds biased and stereotypical views about the abilities and potential of Black professionals. She says that due to companywide discriminatory policies and practices, Google hires few Black employees and steers them into lower-level roles, pays them less and denies them advancement and leadership roles because of their race. 

Black Employees ID’d as Not ‘Googly’ Enough, Class Action Alleges

As her success in recruiting talented, well-qualified Black candidates grew, Curley says she discovered that Google was “not genuinely interested in actual diversity and equal employment opportunities but wanted only to burnish its public image for marketing purposes.” 

Google wanted Curley, as an African American woman, to quietly put on a good face for the company and toe the company line, she says. But she was unwilling to be used “as a mere marketing ploy.” 

Behind closed doors, Curley said her colleagues frequently mistook her and other Black female employees for each other, and she was deemed “intimidating” and “angry.” During hiring, Black applicants were frequently dismissed as being not “googly” enough, “a plain dog whistle for race discrimination.”

When she told Google she was preparing a detailed report for the company on its racial bias in hiring practices, Curley claims she was fired. 

Curley is looking to represent a class of current and former Black Google employees. She’s seeking reforms and injunctive relief to end Google’s allegedly discriminatory employment practices and provide equal opportunities for all Google employees, as well as fees, costs, damages and a jury trial.

Meanwhile, YouTube and Google are facing a class action lawsuit alleging that Black creators have had their voices censored while hate speech is allowed.

What do you think of the allegations in this lawsuit? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiff is represented by Ben Crump of Crump Law, PLLC, Suzanne E. Bish, George Robot and Daniel Lewin of Stowell & Friedman LTD and Sam Sani of Sani Law, APC.

The Google Racial Bias Class Action Lawsuit is April Curley v. Google, LLC, Case No. 5:22-cv-01735-SVK, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California San Jose Division.

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