Google fails to honor “Don’t be mean” pledge, former employees allege in lawsuit

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A group of former Google employees sued the Alphabet Inc. unit (File)

A group of former Google employees sued the Alphabet Inc unit on Monday, alleging it violated their employment contracts by failing to honor its famous “don’t be mean” motto.

In the lawsuit in California state court in Santa Clara County, former Google employees Rebecca Rivers, Sophie Waldman and Paul Duke alleged they were fired two years ago for filling out their contractual obligation to speak out if they saw Google violate its “don’t be mean” pledge.

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company has previously said employees violated data security policies.

Their layoffs also led to an ongoing lawsuit with the National Labor Relations Board over whether the company engaged in unfair practices to stem the growing unionization of workers. Grassroots engineers and others working in tech companies in recent years have sought more say in policies and projects. The management backed off, seeking to maintain control.

The three former Google software engineers had raised concerns in town halls and other forums within Google about the possibility that the company could sell cloud technology to the US immigration authorities, which at the time engaged in detention tactics considered inhumane by rights activists, including separating migrant children from their families.

Workers viewed the potential immigration work “bad” under Google’s policies, which call for “acting honorably and treating each other with respect” and committing to “the highest possible standards of ethical conduct. business, “according to the lawsuit. The company’s code of conduct states that workers who believe the company is breaking its commitment should not remain silent, the lawsuit said.

The workers are claiming an undetermined amount of damages.

Google has promoted “don’t be mean” as a core value for over 20 years, including when it went public in 2004.

(This story was not edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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