Google is being sued by a former employee for allegedly discriminating against job applicants of Caucasian and Asian descent. He further alleges that the company retaliated against him when he refused to comply.
Diversity Hiring
Arne Wilberg was a recruiter for YouTube for seven years when his employment was terminated by its parent company, Google. Now, Wilberg is suing Google for allegedly discriminating against job applicants who are Caucasian or Asian males. According to the lawsuit, Google's "diversity hiring" policies were discriminatory, and that Wilberg was retaliated against when he refused to comply.
The lawsuit states that for several years, Google has been making efforts to favor Hispanic, African American, and female job applicants and discriminate against Caucasian and Asian male applicants. The said efforts to achieve diversity in the company were written in memos, bulletins, and documents.
For instance, in March of 2017, an email from YouTube's Tech Staffing Management Team, Allison Alogna, tells the team to only accept candidates from historically underrepresented groups and again in an April email wherein she instructed the team to cancel interviews with applicants who were not Hispanic, Black, or women.
According to the lawsuit, when Wilberg voiced out his concerns over the practice, he was given poor performance reviews and was ultimately fired. Furthermore, the lawsuit also claims that the company's hiring practices are unlawful as it is the company's job to prevent discrimination and retaliation.
In a statement, Google said that its policy is clear on hiring candidates based on merit and not identity, and that it is constantly working to unapologetically hire a diverse pool of qualified individuals.
Google Lawsuits
Is Google struggling with the pursuance of its diversity hiring goals? It would seem so. This is not the first time that the company has been sued by former employees. Last August, James Damore, a former Google employee filed a lawsuit against the company for discriminating against conservative white men after he was fired because of a controversial memo wherein he stated that the underrepresentation of women in the tech industry isn't because of sexism, but because men are simply more biologically suited to work in the field.
In the same memo, he mentioned the memes and posts of a coworker, Tim Chevalier, who is transgender and disabled, as an example of how Google has allowed liberals to speak out without any consequences.
However, just last February, Google was then sued by Chevalier because the company allegedly fired him after he made pro-diversity posts defending women and people of color.
