45 Google whistleblowers tell tales of workplace retaliation after reporting abuse

A leaked document co-written by 45 googlers and reported on by Motherboard details how each was subjected to illegal workplace retaliation after reporting abuse by co-workers or superiors.

Google's in/famous motto, "Don't be evil," is more than an idealistic aphorism: it's also been a key business advantage in recruiting top technical talent from among an incredibly in-demand labor pool. The motto is often understood as "do no wrong," but as the company's founders have always insisted, it's about not being evil, which, in their framework, is doing wrong, and then refusing to admit and rectify the mistake. Engineers and other in-demand workers who were in search of a more fulfilling work environment took this message to heart, and held their employer to account over it, in a series of walkouts, petitions and even resignations over AI/drone contracts with the Pentagon, a secret plan to launch a censored Chinese search engine, the coverup and impunity for Android founder and accused sexual predator Andy Rubin, the creation of an AI ethics board that included far-right, transphobic political hacks and more.

The leaked document, dated May 8, 2019, has circulated widely within Google. Though the retaliation stories detail a variety of different interactions, three themes that run through them are: retaliation against the rare women who rise to senior technical and leadership roles; retaliation against people of color who speak out over racism, and retaliation against employees who raise ethical objections to business and technical plans.

They also detail how employees who faced retaliation were threatened with legal reprisals if they spoke about their cases, and how the abusers they'd blown the whistle on were able to go on abusing other employees. Read the rest