James Damore Exits Google Lawsuits for Arbitration

James Damore, the Google engineer fired from the company after publishing his controversial diversity memo, is abandoning his lawsuit against the company in favor of arbitration.

Silicon Beat reports that James Damore, the former Google engineer and author of the Google Diversity Memo — which argued that employees at Google were being promoted due to their race or gender rather than skill level — has abandoned the class action lawsuit against the company and has entered arbitration.

When Damore’s lawsuit was initially fired in August, he accused Google of violating his employee right to engage in “concerted activity” to address issues in the workplace, which includes a number of activities from lawsuits to social media posts. Jayme Sophir, a National Labor Relations Board boards attorney, stated that “much of” Damore’s memo was protected under the law, but Google allegedly fired Damore for his “discriminatory statements,” which aren’t protected under labor law.

Damore’s lawsuit alleged that, “Google employees who expressed views deviating from the majority view at Google on political subjects raised in the workplace and relevant to Google’s employment policies and its business, such as “diversity” hiring policies, “bias sensitivity,” or “social justice,” were/are singled out, mistreated, and systematically punished and terminated from Google, in violation of their legal rights.”

Stephen McPherson and Michael Burns, two jobseekers that allege they were denied a job at Google due to their race and gender joined Damore’s suit and remain part of it following Damore’s exit. A former Google employee, Manuel Amador, who was also involved, has since has dropped his claims.