Fired Google engineer files complaint

CEO to address staff in Thursday town hall

MENLO PARK, Calif. — A 28-yearold former Google engineer who was fired over a memo he wrote about gender differences said Tuesday he’s exploring all his legal options and has already filed a labor complaint over his treatment.

James Damore, whose memo over the weekend caused an uproar online, said in an email that he was terminated late Monday for “perpetuating gender stereotypes.” He said that prior to being fired, he had filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board and that “it’s illegal to retaliate against a NLRB charge.”

A filing by Damore with the board Monday alleged he was subjected to “coercive statements” while at Google.

A Google spokesperson said Tuesday that the company could not have retaliated because it was unaware of his labor complaint until reading about it in the media after his dismissal. As of Tuesday afternoon, the company said it had not been sent notice of the complaint by the board. The board declined to comment. Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Monday said in an email to employees that while he supports free expression by company workers, Damore’s memo crossed the line of the company’s code of conduct “by advancing harmful gender stereotypes in our workplace.” Pichai added that he was cutting short a family vacation overseas to address staff in a town hall Thursday.

“To suggest a group of our colleagues have traits that make them less biologically suited to that work is offensive and not OK,” Pichai wrote.

The engineer’s widely shared memo, titled “Google’s Ideological Echo Chamber,” criticized Google for pushing mentoring and diversity programs, and for “alienating conservatives.”

Google’s just-hired head of diversity, Danielle Brown, responded earlier with her own memo, saying that Google is “unequivocal in our belief that diversity and inclusion are critical to our success.” She said change is hard and “often uncomfortable.”