Former Employee Publishes Memo Alleging Racism at Google

A former Google employee sent a memo before leaving the tech giant in which he claims to have been subjected to racism as a black person working for the Masters of the Universe.

Motherboard reports that an employee that recently left tech giant Google — whose name they have withheld — published a memo before his last day on the job titled “The Weight of Silence,” in which he alleged that he was subjected to racist or insensitive comments about his race while working at the Silicon Valley giant. The employee wrote in the memo:

Over the last 5 years I’ve heard co-workers spew hateful words about immigrants, boast unabashedly about gentrifying neighborhoods, mockingly imitate people who speak different languages, reject candidates of color without evidence because of ‘fit’ and so much more. So, just as I’m doing with this essay, I ultimately resolved to break my silence. And though I eventually grew more comfortable using challenging moments to educate my co-workers, I never stopped feeling the burden of being black at Google. And the more insensitive comments weighed on me, the less safe I felt here—and the less capable I was of being my best self at work, or myself at all.

The author of the memo reportedly worked at the firm for several years and confirmed to Motherboard that he wrote it but did not comment on it. The former employee cites moments in the memo where he felt uncomfortable at Google, such as following the shootings of Eric Garner and Michael Brown and during the protests following the shootings. The memo states:

I realized that my team simply did not have much to say on the issue of police brutality. This was odd—mostly because I’d watched them debate countless other topics, newsworthy and not, with a proud deftness and alacrity. From disappearing Malaysian airplanes to the spread of Ebola to the marriages and divorces of celebrities I’d never heard of, my teammates always had something to say about everything. But when it came to the violent policing of black bodies, they were silent.

This memo is one of many published by current and former employees in recent months, which appears to imply that employees at the firm are unhappy for a number of reasons. Just last week, another Google employee alleged widespread discrimination against pregnant employees at the firm. A memo titled “I’m Not Returning to Google After Maternity Leave, and Here is Why,” was posted to an internal company messaging board for expecting mothers. The memo was then reposted to other message boards and quickly went viral within the company. In the memo, the female employee writes:

I’m sharing this statement because I hope it informs needed change in how Google handles discrimination, harassment and retaliation. This is a long read, but the details are important in understanding the often drawn-out, isolating and painful experience of victims of discrimination, harassment and retaliation. Also, if anything similar has happened to you, know that you’re not alone.

In response to the memo, one employee wrote: “WOW. I can’t wait till absolutely nothing changes as a result. She deserves better than this continued train-wreck.” In the 2,300 word memo, the employee alleges that her manager made discriminatory remarks about pregnant women, and when reported to HR she received retaliation. Read Breitbart News’ report on the memo here.

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com