Google Is Reportedly Punishing Its Employees For Organizing Walkouts

According to the media on April 23, two Google workers revealed that the company was punishing them for organizing a walkout with the participation of thousands of workers in November last year. They planned to hold a meeting to talk about examples of retaliation.

In 2018, about 20000 Google workers organized a protest to object how their company tackled all allegations concerning sexual harassment, as well as its policies of transparency and equity at the workplace.

In an interview with the Fortune on April 22, a representative from Google denied these allegations. She said,

The Wired reported that one of the walkout organizers, Claire Stapleton, who was working for Google for 12 years, wrote an email 2 months after the protest had occurred. In her email, she revealed that she would be no longer YouTube’s marketing manager and get demoted for what she had done. In addition, half of her reports disappeared.

In addition to Claire Stapleton, Meredith Whittaker, who served as a researcher on AI at the company, wasn’t allowed to continue her AI ethics research. Both Stapleton and Whittaker said that it hasn’t been always easy to realize all punishment tricks from Google. They stated,

In the past, #GoogleWalkout organizers published a list of different requirements for management. Two of these requirements include a “clear, uniform, globally inclusive process for reporting sexual misconduct safely and anonymously” and an “end to forced arbitration in cases of harassment and discrimination for all current and future employees.”