James Damore's Claim of Unfair Dismissal Against Google Revealed

James Damore, the Google employee famously fired after he shared a memo alleging that the gender gap in tech could be due to biological differences, has filed an unfair dismissal case against the company.

Silicon Beat reports that James Damore, who was fired from Google in August of 2017, has claimed that he was unfairly let go from the company. Breitbart News covered Damore’s viewpoint diversity memo and subsequent firing in-depth, leading to a series investigating the leftist workplace culture in Silicon Valley titled Rebels of Google. Under California law, employers can fire employees for virtually any reason they see fit, leading many to wonder how Damore would fight his unfair dismissal claim.

Silicon Beat has obtained Damore’s U.S. National Labor Relations Board charge sheet revealing Damore’s reasoning for doing legal battle with Google. Damore alleges that his memo, which discussed biological differences between men and women as well as Google’s oppressive leftist workplace culture and diversity hiring initiatives, was the reason for his firing. Damore seems to allege in his claim that it was his criticism of the company’s culture, which he feels persecuted conservative viewpoints, which led to his firing.

Damore’s Labour Board charge centers around Section 8(a) subsection (1) of the National Labor Relations Act, which states that employees have the right to engage in activities for “mutual aid or protection.” Damore is claiming that Google fired him “in retaliation” for his criticism of the company, something which is protected by law and to discourage other employees from performing similar actions, claims Damore. The protected actions listed by Damore are his communication with other employees about the companies workplace via his internal memo.

Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO, has defended the company’s decision to fire Damore arguing that Damore perpetuated “harmful gender stereotypes in our workplace.” Google did not respond to a request for comment relating to Damore’s Labor Board charge but has previously stated that the company has “strong policies against retaliation, harassment, and discrimination in the workplace,” and supports employees rights to express themselves. In a previous statement on Damore, Google said, “an important part of our culture is lively debate. But like any workplace that doesn’t mean that anything goes.”