A lawsuit against Google has been brought on by a former employee who claims the tech giant engaged in systemic bias against Black workers.
Reuters reported that the lawsuit was filed on Friday in a San Jose, California federal court, and accuses the company of having a “racially biased corporate culture” that places Black employees in lower-level jobs, pays them less and denies them opportunities to advance because of their race.
“Google is engaged in a nationwide pattern or practice of intentional race discrimination and retaliation and maintains employment policies and practices that have a disparate impact against Black employees throughout the United States,” the complaint alleges.
The plaintiff, April Curley, worked as a diversity recruiter at Google from 2014 until 2020. She claims that the search engine company “subjected Blacks to a hostile work environment, including by often requiring they show identification or be questioned by security at its Mountain View, California campus.”
Curley’s allegations also claim “Black people comprise only 4.4% of employees and about 3% of leadership and its technology workforce.”
Curley says Google fired her in 2020 after she and coworkers started working on a list of desired reforms.
“While Google claims that they were looking to increase diversity, they were actually undervaluing, underpaying, and mistreating their Black employees,” Curley’s lawyer Ben Crump said to Reuters.
Curley seeks punitive damages and lost compensation for current and former Black employees at Google, and to restore their positions.
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