WaPo: Google axed talk on caste bias after revolt

THE MOVEMENT TOWARDS CASTE EQUITY IS ONE ROOTED IN LOVE, EMPATHY AND JUSTICE,” SAID SOUNDARARAJAN

NEW DELHI: Google allegedly cancelled a scheduled talk by an anti-caste activist in April after some employees and groups accused her of being “antiHindu”, leading to the resignation of an executive at the company, Washington Post reported on Thursday.

Thenmozhi Soundararajan, the executive director of Equality Labs, a US-based Dalit civil rights organisation, said she faced claims of discrimination from within Google that led to the cancellation of a Google News diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) talk on caste for April’s Dalit History Month.

Soundararajan told Washington Post that the talk was meant for 60-odd employees of Google on caste equity in newsrooms but two days before the event, seven people from the company objected to the talk and said their lives were at risk

“The movement towards caste equity is one rooted in love, empathy and justice,” said Soundararajan in a statement. “I cannot find the words to express just how traumatic and discriminatory Google’s actions were towards its employees and myself, as the company unlawfully cancelled a talk about caste equity.”

The row led to the resignation of Tanuja Gupta, a project manager at Google News. Google denied the allegations.

“Caste discrimination has no place in our workplace. We also have a very clear, publicly shared policy against retaliation and discrimination in our workplace,” Google spokesperson Shannon Newberry told The Washington Post, adding that the “proposed talk which — rather than bringing our community together and raising awareness — was creating division and [rancour]”.