Internet Giant, Google Is Suspected Of Being Run By A Number Of Heretical Figures From Behind The Scenes

JAKARTA - Google is known for its close and sometimes closed corporate culture. Yet one would not suspect that there is a cult running things behind the scenes. Well, one of Google's contractors claims that's the case, according to an unusual report from The New York Times.

Kevin Lloyd, a contractor hired to work as a video producer for Google Developer Studio (GDS), accused at least 12 members of an unidentified religious sect of working for GDS. They even have an inappropriate degree of influence over the work environment.

Lloyd claims he has been fired for citing the group's behavior and has filed a lawsuit against Google and its contracting agency ASG, for wrongful layoffs, retaliation, emotional distress, and failure to protect him from discrimination.

The religious group in question is known as the Fellowship of Friends. According to the Times, the Fellowship "believes a higher consciousness can be achieved by embracing art and culture". They own a 1,200-acre complex in Oregon House, California. The group has even been the subject of an investigative podcast Spotify that promises to reveal its "dark secret".

Old Guild member Peter Lubbers leads GDS and has brought in a number of other Guild members, including video producer Gabe Pannell, the Times notes.

But things get even weirder than that as the Times report also shows Fellowship members holding roles at Google corporate events. They are called working the registration desk, taking photos, playing music, providing massages, and serving wine.

Google also allegedly purchased the wine served at this event from a winery run by Fellowship members. Additionally, Lloyd's lawsuit claims Google paid for "a state-of-the-art sound system installed in the Oregon House home of one Fellowship member who worked for the team as a sound designer."

The Times said it corroborated some of these allegations after speaking with eight current and former Google employees, as well as by viewing publicly available documents, including a list of Fellowship members, photos of the event, and a spreadsheet documenting the event budget.

Even a Twitter account says that doomsday is near because Google is now run by a cult that threatens the world.

Another contractor, Erik Johanson, told the Times that Google's partnership with ASG allowed the GDS team to bring in more Fellowship members, as contractors were hired "with much less oversight and a much less stringent onboarding process."

The Alphabet Workers Union (AWU) has also mentioned the potential abuse of Google's contract system by managers in a thread on Twitter.

Reported by The Verge, Lloyd's complaints about the presence of the alleged religious group were met with disdain. He claims that he was fired for no reason shortly after complaining about it. Google has responded to the suit by denying Lloyd's claims of discrimination at the company and saying he was fired due to performance issues.