Google fires engineer who wrote memo questioning women in tech

“SAN FRANCISCO—Google on Monday fired a software engineer who wrote an internal memo that questioned the company’s diversity efforts and argued that the low number of women in technical positions was a result of biological differences instead of discrimination.

“The memo, called ‘Google’s Ideological Echo Chamber,’ angered many in Silicon Valley because it relied on certain gender stereotypes—like the notion that women are less interested in high-stress jobs because they are more anxious—to rationalize the gender gap in the tech industry. The memo quickly spread outside the company, as other Google employees railed against many of its assumptions. In a companywide email, Google’s chief executive, Sundar Pichai, said portions of the memo had violated the company’s code of conduct and crossed the line ‘by advancing harmful gender stereotypes in our workplace.’”

“The memo put the company in a bind. On one hand, Google has long promoted a culture of openness, with employees allowed to question senior executives and even mock its strategy in internal forums. However, Google, like many other technology firms, is dealing with criticism that it has not done enough to hire and promote women and minorities.”

“…the firing has become a call-to-arms for alt-right voices on the internet who are crowdfunding money for the engineer, James Damore, and are now calling for a boycott of Google. Some of the calls to boycott the tech giant refer to getting ‘red pilled,’ a term popular in alt-right circles for when people see reality clearly. The term comes from the 1999 sci-fi film The Matrix, where the hero takes a red pill to see the real world around him. In this case, alt-right activists believe that getting red-pilled means you can see the misandry [the opposite of misogyny, hated of men] inherent in Google’s decision to fire the engineer.”

“Others on Twitter have been brainstorming alternatives for Google services, which can be a rather daunting challenge for people who have bought into the Google eco-system. Duck Duck Go and Bing have been floated as good alternatives for search, while Vid.me has been held up as a good alternative to YouTube. Google, of course, owns YouTube.”

“The Google engineer fired for writing a controversial memo about diversity has gone beyond referring to the company as an ‘echo chamber’ that won’t stand for dissent and now says it’s ‘almost like a cult.’”

“In a video interview with the conservative blogger Stefan Molyneux that was posted to YouTube earlier this week, Damore called Google a ‘dream job’ with ‘huge benefits’ and said he loved the company. Damore wrote in the op-ed that he ‘committed heresy against the Google creed by stating that not all disparities between men and women that we see in the world are the result of discriminatory treatment. … Damore said that when he tried to engage in ‘reasoned discussion’ with his peers on the issue, ‘mostly I was ignored.’”

“While his cause has lit up the conservative blogosphere, Damore chose to quote famous leftist intellectual Noam Chomsky. ‘As Noam Chomsky once observed, ‘the smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum,’’ Damore wrote.”

“YouTube has in recent years become one of the most influential and powerful social media sites for conservative commentators and far-right and ‘alt-right’ leaders, who have built large audiences outside of mainstream channels.

“The 28-year-old—who was fired over his memo, becoming an instant hero to the alt-right—appears to have taken some interest in the segments of YouTube that promote the idea that men are better than women at certain jobs, and that diversity programs lead to discrimination against white males.

“The Harvard graduate chose the programs of two YouTube personalities with large rightwing followings for his first media appearances this week. At the end of a 51-minute conversation with Jordan Peterson, a University of Toronto psychology professor famous for his anti-transgender views, Damore said he agreed to do the interview because, he said, he was a ‘huge fan’ of the Youtube personality.”

“In the months since, his firing has become a popular cause among right-leaning US bloggers, and Mr Damore hired a Republican Party official as his attorney. Mr Damore and another white male former Google engineer, David Gudeman, filed the lawsuit as a proposed class action in Santa Clara County Superior Court in California. The lawsuit alleges workplace discrimination and retaliation.”

“According to the lawsuit, the company has failed to protect employees, especially white men, from workplace harassment related to their support of US President Donald Trump or conservative political views.”

Before he was fired by Google, Mr. Damore filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board saying that the company had violated his right to engage in concerted activity to address a workplace problem. … Jayme L. Sophir, an associate general counsel at the labor agency, said that Google’s actions were acceptable because they made clear that Mr. Damore was being fired for comments that advanced stereotypes—not for speaking out about the company.