Google Accused of Discrimination Against Men, Whites and Conservatives

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Two former Google software engineers say the corporate culture at Google discriminates against white males and those who express conservative political views.

Plaintiffs James Damore and David Gudeman say they both lost their jobs with defendant Google LLC after expressing opinions consistent with their conservative politics.

They claim that while ostensibly striving for an inclusive work environment, Google has actually allowed a culture to develop that marginalizes employees who are white, male or conservative.

“Damore, Gudeman, and other class members were ostracized, belittled, and punished for their heterodox political views, and for the added sin of their birth circumstances of being Caucasians and/or males,” the Google class action lawsuit states.

“This is the essence of discrimination—Google formed opinions about and then treated Plaintiffs not based on their individual merits, but rather on their membership in groups with assumed characteristics.”

Both plaintiffs began working for Google in 2013 as software engineers. Damore was fired from Google in August 2017 after circulating a memo he wrote that criticized Google’s internal diversity policy and suggested ways it should be changed. The memo repeatedly argued that women are biologically less suited for tech work and leadership positions.

He claims he was threatened and mocked by Google employees after the memo was more widely publicized in the beginning of August. Google employees were allegedly rewarded with “Peer Bonuses” for arguing against Damore’s views, he claims.

Gudeman claims he was given a verbal warning by Google’s human resources department after he expressed views in opposition to perceived discrimination against males. Google fired him in December 2016 after he challenged a co-worker’s claim of being targeted by the FBI just for being Muslim. Gudeman had suggested the FBI may have had legitimate reasons to investigate the co-worker.

The Google class action lawsuit includes page after page showing internal social media posts from the plaintiffs and other Google employees arguing their political views, posts that the plaintiffs say created a hostile work environment.

The plaintiffs also accuse Google management of maintaining “blacklists” of conservative employees and of issuing standing orders to bar certain famous conservative personalities like blogger Curtis Yarvin and InfoWars founder Alex Jones from setting foot on Google’s campus.

Discrimination based on political views is prohibited under California law. The plaintiffs also raise claims for violations of federal law that protects employees from race- and gender-based discrimination.

At the same time, Google is facing another employment discrimination class action lawsuit from women who say the company pays women less than their male peers for performing the same work. The U.S. Department of Labor is also investigating pay practices at Google.

Damore and Gudeman seek to represent a plaintiff Class including all Google employees who were discriminated against because of their perceived conservative views, race, or gender within four years prior to the filing of this Google class action lawsuit.

They seek a court injunction barring Google from “discriminating, harassing, and retaliating against individuals with conservative political views.” They also seek an award of general, special and compensatory damages, declaratory relief, pre-judgment interest where allowed, and court costs and attorneys’ fees.

Damore and Gudeman are represented by attorneys Harmeet K. Dhillon, Ravdeep S. Grewal and Gregory R. Michael of Dhillon Law Group Inc.

The Google Gender Discrimination Class Action Lawsuit is Damore and Gudeman v. Google LLC, Case No. 18CV321529, in the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara.

UPDATE: On June 7, 2019, Google was unable to escape a class action lawsuit alleging the tech giant discriminates against conservative white male job applicants.