More than 50 former Google employees who were fired for protesting Google's business ties with Israel have filed a complaint with regulators alleging illegal retaliation, with some even claiming they were fired for simply watching the protests.
The former Google employees who were fired for protesting Google's cloud computing contract with the Israeli government have filed a complaint with
Google workers fired NLRB complaint for protesting Israeli contract file - The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/30/24145680/google-workers-fired-project-nimbus-protest-nlrb-complaint
Workers who Google fired after Israel protest file federal labor charges - The Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/04/30/google-fired-israel-nlrb-labor/
Fired Google Workers Who Protested Israel Deal File Formal Complaint | Data Center Knowledge | News and analysis for the data center industry
https://www.datacenterknowledge.com/google-alphabet/fired-google-workers-who-protested-israel-deal-file-complaint-labor-board
Google workers fired over Israeli contract protests file complaint with labor board | AP News
https://apnews.com/article/google-fire-workers-israel-government-contract-f33ea85a0b9257439c02bd2355cd76ad
Google was selected as a provider of public cloud services for the Israeli government in 2021. The partnership between the two companies is called Project Nimbus , but in May 2021, just before Project Nimbus was announced, armed conflict broke out between Israel and the Gaza Strip, sparking criticism from within Google that the project 'supports genocide and apartheid.' Protests were also held within the company, and some employees were fired.
Subsequent protests took place on April 16, 2024, leading to the arrest of a total of nine employees at Google offices in Sunnyvale, California and New York City. In response, Google's Global Security Officer Chris Rakow said in an internal memo to employees, 'The overwhelming majority of Googlers are doing the right thing. If you're one of the few who thinks we might overlook violations of our policies, think again. We take this matter very seriously and will continue to enforce our long-standing policies to take action against disruptive behavior, including termination.'
Google employee arrested for protesting cooperation with Israel - GIGAZINE
Subsequent reports said that Google had fired more than 50 employees who participated in the protests on April 16, 2024.
Google fires about 20 more employees who took part in protests against Israeli cloud contracts, bringing total number of employees fired for protests to more than 50 - GIGAZINE
On May 1, 2024 local time, more than 50 employees who were fired from Google for participating in protests filed a complaint with the NLRB, an independent agency that enforces labor laws in the United States, alleging that Google's firings were unlawful retaliation. The complaint states, 'Google fired or placed on leave approximately 50 employees in retaliation for participating in protected concerted activity, namely peaceful, non-destructive protests, which interfered with the employees' rights under the Seventh Amendment to the Constitution.'
Jane Chang, a spokesperson for No Tech For Apartheid, which organized the Google employee protests, said that bystanders who were not participating in the protests were also fired. In response, Google spokesperson Bailey Thomson said, 'We have identified the employees who were fired as having been personally and critically involved in the disruptive activities that took place in our offices.'
In addition, an employee who was fired for simply watching the protests described the events of the day of the protests to foreign media outlet The Verge on condition of anonymity. According to him, the protests were taking place in a lounge on the 10th floor of Google's office in New York City, and he said, 'When I got there, about 20 people were sitting on the floor. I didn't talk to any of them, but I did talk to other people who were standing up and handing out flyers.' According to him, all the protesters were wearing matching T-shirts.
After that, he returned to his desk to work, went back to watch the protest again around 5 p.m., and finished work on a sofa near the lounge. He said he worked at Google as usual the next day, but received a notice of dismissal from Google by email around dinner time. 'Rather than cracking down on workers who have a voice, Google's dismissals seem to be more of a selection of employees to be fired,' he said. He had worked at Google for about three years and was also a member of the leadership of the parent company Alphabet's labor union (a labor union not recognized by the NLRB).
'We are investigating the physical disturbance that occurred in our building on April 16th and are identifying which employees were involved in the protests by examining additional details provided by the employee involved,' Google's Thompson told The Verge.
However, one former employee who was fired despite not participating in the protests explained that she had never heard from HR before her firing, nor had she been asked if she had participated in the protests. 'This was a real shock. There was no indication that this was going to happen,' she said.
He explained that while he was watching the protest, a security guard asked him to show his Google employee ID. 'It never occurred to me that I shouldn't show my ID to the security guard. He's the security guard for the office where I work, and I've done nothing wrong,' he said.
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