Google Sued By Former Employees, Accused Of Racist Bias Against Black Employees

Google is accused of maintaining a "racially biased corporate culture". (photo; pixabay)

JAKARTA – A lawsuit filed in federal court in San Jose, California, Friday, March 18, accuses Google of systemic racial bias against Black employees. The allegations also say the search engine company directed them to lower-level jobs. Even paying them less salaries and denying them the chance to advance because of their race.

The class-action lawsuit alleges, Google maintains a "racially biased corporate culture" that favors white men. Where blacks comprise only 4.4% of employees and about 3% of its leadership and technology workforce.

Plaintiff, April Curley, also said that Alphabet Inc's unit had exposed black people to a hostile work environment. This includes often requiring them to show identification or being questioned by security personnel on the Mountain View, California campus.

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters on the lawsuit.

The lawsuit comes after the state's civil rights regulator, the Fair Employment and Housing Department, began investigating Google's treatment of black female workers and possible discrimination in their workplace.

Curley said Google had hired him in 2014 to design a historic black college outreach program.

She said her hiring proved to be a "marketing ploy," as supervisors began demeaning her job, stereotyped her as an "angry" black woman, and handed her over for a promotion.

Curley said Google fired him in September 2020 after he and his colleagues began working on a list of desired reforms.

"While Google claims they want to increase diversity, they actually belittle, underpay, and treat their black employees badly," Curley's attorney Ben Crump said in a statement.

Crump is a civil rights attorney who is also represented by George Floyd's family, after he was murdered in May 2020 by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

Curley's lawsuit seeks to recover compensation and punitive damages and lost compensation for current and former black employees at Google, and to restore them to appropriate positions and seniority. The case is called Curley v Google LLC, US District Court, Northern District of California, No. 22-01735.