Labor board rules ex-Google employees firing over gender stereotypes was legal

Labor board rules ex-Google employees firing over gender stereotypes was legalLabor board rules ex-Google employees firing over gender stereotypes was legalA federal government agency has concluded that Google did leid break labor laws for firing James Damore, the Google engineer who wrote a controversial memo about his companys diversity initiatives, according to a National Labor Relations Board memo written in January that was made public on Friday.Damore, a Google senior software engineer, was fired from Google in August after circulating an internal memo that questionedwomens biological suitability for technology jobs. Titled Googles Ideological Echo Chamber, the 10-page manifesto alleged that women are underrepresented in technology because women are more anxious and have lower stress tolerances than men.NLRB Statements about womens biological capabilities are not protected speechBefore he was fired, Damore filed a complaint with NLRB, arguing that Google was misrepresenting and shaming me in order to silence my complaints. TheNational Labor Relations Actgives employees the right to engage in concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection, including charged political speech.In an agency memo, Jayme Sophir, an attorney withNLRB, was not convinced by Damores argument and recommended dismissing his complaint, agreeing that Google was within its rights to fire him. Sophirs memo outlined that while Damores criticism of Google was protected speech, Damore had also made unprotected discriminatory statements regarding womens heightened neuroticism and mens prevalence at the top of the IQ distribution.Employers have a strong interest in promoting diversity and encouraging employees across diverse demographic groups to thrive in their workplaces, Sophirwrote. Employers must be permitted to nip in the bud the kinds of employee conduct that could lead to a hostile workplace. Damores words caused negative, disruptive co nsequences to Googles workplace. The NLRB memo said that at least two female engineering candidates for employment at Google said they were withdrawing from consideration explicitly because of Damores memo.The memo also gives us insight into what exactly Damore was told during his firing. Google has chosen not to comment specifically on Damores case, but in the NLRB memo, Sophir noted that Google emphasized Damore was being fired for what he said about women, not what believed about Googles hiring practices.I also want to be clear that this is not about you expressing yourself on political issues or having political views that are different than others at the company, Googles human resources department told Damore over the phone when he was fired, according to the NLRB. Having a different political view is absolutely fine. Advancing gender stereotypes is not.Although the memos words are not legally binding since Damore dropped his NLRB complaint before it could potentially get dismi ssed, it shows how a court could rule if Damore continues to pursue legal action. And Damore is not letting his grievance go. In January, Damore announced that he was filing a class-action suit against Google on behalf of discriminated male, politically conservative employees at the tech giant.