Google has terminated four employees
for what the tech firm said were “repeated violations of our data security
policies.”
All four had spoken out publicly against company initiatives including Google’s
past work with government agencies.
One of the four, Rebecca Rivers, was one of two employees whose recent
suspension by Google sparked a rally last week outside the company’s San
Francisco office from colleagues, who demanded their reinstatement.
In a memo first obtained by Bloomberg News, the company said the four employees
“were involved in systematic searches for other employees’ materials and work.
“This includes searching for, accessing, and distributing business information
outside the scope of their jobs.”
The memo added that one of the fired employees subscribed to the calendars of
workers on other teams “so that they received emails detailing the work and
whereabouts of those employees.
This including personal matters such as 1:1s (one-on-one meetings), medical
appointments and family activities – all without those employees’ knowledge or
consent.”
At the Friday rally, Rivers said she never accessed any documents that were
labeled “need to know,” nor did she share any documents with anyone who did not
already have access.
Laurence Berland, a Google staffer suspended alongside Rivers, acknowledged
viewing the calendars of people on different teams at Friday’s demonstration,
but said such calendars were visible to all workers.
He said at the time that the suspensions were an attempt to stifle dissent
inside the company.
“This isn’t really about me, or Rebecca, or any individual,” Berland said
Friday.
“They are retaliating against us because they want to intimidate everyone who
dares to disagree with leadership … They want us afraid, and they want us
silent.”
Berland could not be immediately reached for comment.
After Rivers tweeted that she had been terminated, several former and current
Google staffers, who have spoken out against the company hinted that protests
would continue.
“This is craven retaliation, and I ask everyone who can to show up and
support,” tweeted Meredith Whittaker, who helped organise a large walkout at
Google in 2018 and left the company after saying she faced retaliation.
“More soon … ”
Google would not comment beyond confirming the authenticity of the staff memo.
Tensions between employees and executives at Google have soured in the last two
years.
The rift first broke into the open with the November 2018 walkout. As The Times
reported, that global protest signaled employees’ growing concern with a
breakdown of the transparency and trust that long-defined Google’s corporate
culture.
Since then, workers have complained that the company has become cagier and
attempted to censor those, who speak out against new and existing policies.
Google recently announced it would hold fewer “TGIF” all-hands meetings due to
leaks, took down memes that criticized the hiring of a former Department of
Homeland Security staffer, and deleted questions during an all-staff meeting
about the appointment of that staffer.
It also put in place new rules that limit the kinds of political speech
employees can engage in on company time.
Meanwhile, workers in Zurich, Switzerland, recently held a meeting to discuss
their rights as workers and what unionising would entail in defiance of
Google’s repeated attempts to cancel the event.
Employees also accused the company of creating an internal tool that kept tabs
on organising efforts by automatically reporting staffers who created a
calendar event that included more than 10 rooms or 100 or more participants.
(Reuters/NAN)
