Google’s Firing Line
Walsworth employment partner, Sage Knauft, contributed his insights to Human Resource Executive Online in an article examining Google’s recent termination of engineer James Damore. Damore was fired last week for violating Google’s code of conduct by posting to the company message board his 10-page manifesto on his belief that biological causes are the reasons for the lack of women in technology. He has since filed suit under a section of the National Labor Relations Act that protects statements made by workers’ rights activists about pay, practices and conditions.
In considering this issue from a legal perspective, Knauft notes that there is no bright line that governs employee speech. With the massive employee and public backlash directed towards Damore and his memo, Knauft concurrs that it was clear Google had to take some sort of serious and public action. However, he notes that terminating Damore may have been a hasty move by Google. “To a certain extent, [Damore] has a right to his views and opinions.” Damore has enough standing to file legitimate claims against Google for wrongful termination. Knauft suggests that Google could have involved its diversity committee or department, or even formed employee focus groups to spark discussions and identify appropriate solutions.
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