Google Employees Stage 'Sit-In,' Share Stories of Retaliation from Tech Giant
Google workers protested alleged retaliation from the tech giant by staging sit-ins on May 1, six months after the #GoogleWalkout. Employees participated in the protest at 11 a.m. local time, depending on their location.
On Nov. 1, 20,000 employees left their offices to protest Google’s actions after top managers were accused of sexual harassment, according to The New York Times. One of the executives included Android founder, Andy Ruben.
Two of the walkout organizers, Claire Stapleton and Meredith Whittaker, argued that the protest brought up more issues than just Google’s handling of sexual harassment. It also exposed “a history of pay discrimination, systemic racism and the unequal treatment of contract workers,” Vox reported.
However, after the walkout, Stapleton and Whittaker said that Google retaliated against them through various actions.
Stapleton, a marketing manager at YouTube, said in a letter shared with employees that Google tried to demote her. She said that after she hired a lawyer to fight back, Google “walked back my demotion, at least on paper,” but “the environment remains hostile and I consider quitting nearly every day.”
Whittaker, a researcher who specializes in artificial intelligence, said she had also been “informed my role would be changed dramatically” and told to “abandon [her] work on AI ethics.”
After that, other employees stepped forward, accusing Google of retaliation after the walkouts, which prompted Whittaker, Stapleton, and other workers to organize the sit-ins on May 1.
In a letter signed by a dozen employees, they said that “Google has a culture of retaliation, which too often works to silence women, people of color, and gender minorities,” according to Fox News.
“Retaliation isn’t always obvious. It’s often confusing and drawn out, consisting of icy conversations, gaslighting, project cancellations, transition rejections, or demotions,” they added.
“The stories we’ve been collecting will be shared, our demands will be read, and all will be in solidarity with those withstanding this chilling practice,” organizers on the Google Walkout For Real Change Twitter account said.
Today, Googlers from around the world are gathering at 11am local time to sit together and show retaliation is #NotOkGoogle. The stories we’ve been collecting will be shared, our demands will be read, and all will be in solidarity with those withstanding this chilling practice.
— Google Walkout For Real Change (@GoogleWalkout) May 1, 2019
During the sit-in, employees called for policy changes and talked about the retaliation they have faced during their time at Google, tweeting anonymously through the Google Walkout Twitter account.
“…out loud in a team meeting and watched for his report’s reactions. Later, I told him I was going to look for a new team and he immediately put me on PEP, blocking me for six months from moving teams and one year from receiving a pay raise. …
— Google Walkout For Real Change (@GoogleWalkout) May 1, 2019
“He said he did not want to fire me, but wanted me to start behaving like “a good girl” (I was 32 years old at the time). After three months of obeying his orders he got bored and left me alone. I never spoke about promotion once in the next five years at Google.”
— Google Walkout For Real Change (@GoogleWalkout) May 1, 2019
“After four months I left the team along with three other women. Even after I had left the team my previous managers were able to give me an “need improvement” in performance, which I’m now living with the impact of. …
— Google Walkout For Real Change (@GoogleWalkout) May 1, 2019
“After a year, I finally got one of the other women to speak up and her testimony just opened up more questions from the investigation team. Still, nothing has been done. Our former manager is still managing the same team.” #NotOkGoogle
— Google Walkout For Real Change (@GoogleWalkout) May 1, 2019
At the New York location, more than 200 employees participated in the sit-in, according to The Verge.
A portion of the crowd in NYC! #NotOkGoogle pic.twitter.com/lOvmk1xH4V
— Google Walkout For Real Change (@GoogleWalkout) May 1, 2019
Whittaker tweeted that there were “tears and talks of union” during that time.
As other time zones approached 11 a.m., more reports flooded in with Google workers in Cambridge, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and London, to name a few, participating in the protest.
Workers from Google in SF read stories of retaliation today at 11 AM, then marched over to Facebook to stand in solidarity with cafe workers. #NotOkGoogle #MayDay pic.twitter.com/dfB0h2AByn
— Dr. Alex Hanna is almost at #TheBigO (@alexhanna) May 1, 2019
After reaching out to Google for comment, a spokesperson told Fox News on Tuesday that “there has been no retaliation” in the workplace.
“We prohibit retaliation in the workplace and investigate all allegations,” the spokesperson added. “Employees and teams are regularly and commonly given new assignments, or reorganized, to keep pace with evolving business needs.”
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