James Damore, the author of the infamous Google Memo that led to his firing is now taking his fight to court as he recently filed suit against the company for “alleged discrimination by Google against men, people of the “Caucasian race,” and people with perceived conservative political views.” While I’m not exactly sure what he hopes to achieve with this legal action (is he trying to decrease the 2% of black employees that work their?), if Damore believes he was discriminated against then more power to him. Discrimination lawsuits are notoriously hard to prove and in the best of circumstances, are settled out of court.
“The suit alleges that Google employees who expressed views deviating from the majority at Google on politics or on employment practices including “diversity hiring policies, bias sensitivity, and social justice” were “singled out, mistreated, and systematically punished and terminated from Google,” in violation of their legal rights.” In an odd reality, if Damore wins, a person could sue after being fired for saying they believe Latino Americans are inferior to Whites (or vice versa).
I understand that Damore feels picked on and relegated to a second class citizen. But at the same time, if a company is clear about their policy and goals, then it is up to the employee to conform or leave. If Google is blackballing him from other opportunities then a lawsuit is a necessary evil. But according to the Chicago Tribune, “Damore, who also filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, appeared to embrace his rising political visibility, posing in a t-shirt with the word “Goolag” written in a multi-colored style that mimicked Google’s familiar logo.” If anything it seems as if Damore’s firing has raised his popularity and he’s getting exactly what he wants from this.
Lawsuits should never been used as a way to increase attention, but this seems to be just that. We’ll see where this leads, but for now, this is a very murky situation.
