Google Faces Systemic Bias Lawsuit
Google’s latest lawsuit follows an incident that gained media traction last fall, when an employee was escorted off campus by security who didn’t believe he worked there. Photo: Stephen Lam/ Reuters via Business Insider
The latest lawsuit facing Google is a compilation of alleged bias against Black employees. April Curley, a former employee, sued the multinational entity last Friday, making a range of accusations regarding discriminatory activity against Black workers: job placement in lower-level roles that didn’t correspond to their education and experience, underpayment, and lack of career advancement are a few of the claims being made.
Curley, who worked at the company from 2014 until her dismissal in 2020, called the work environment over her six years ‘hostile’. She was initially hired to work on an outreach program for historically Black colleges, but claimed that her being hired for the role was a marketing ploy.
She says managers repeatedly mistook her for several other Black colleagues, while one asked her a sexually inappropriate question. Curely also alleges that her salary was cut after she spoke up during critical meetings and challenged internal practices. After putting her on a performance improvement plan, Google let her go in September 2020.
Benjamin Crump, an attorney who has worked on famous wrongful death lawsuits involving African Americans, is representing the plaintiff in the Google suit. Photo: Associated Press via Orlando Sentinel
Black+ workers, a label which includes those who identify as multiracial, make up 4.4 percent of Google’s US employees, according to their 2021 diversity report. This is a 0.7 percent increase the previous year. Regardless, Google has continuously encountered similar issues with their Black employees over the last several years.
Last September, product manager Angel Onuoha made headlines after he was stopped and escorted off the company’s campus by two security guards who didn’t believe he worked there. Back in 2017, an employee accused Google of enticing minority workers with promising positions, only to assign them low pay upon accepting the position. In December, California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing was investigating the way Google treats their Black, female employees.
The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose. Ben Crump, the civil rights attorney who represented the family of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and George Floyd, is joining the case to represent April Curley. The claim seeks class action status.