Google Contractor Alleges Disability Discrimination

A contractor working for Google’s education products team has alleged that the company discriminated and retaliated against her after she suffered a knee injury in 2019 by removing her from team meetings.

Vice News reports that a contractor working on Google’s G Suite for Higher Education/Google For Education team has filed a complaint with the New York State Division of Human Rights this week alleging that the company discriminated against her after she suffered a knee injury in 2019 by removing her from team meetings.

A sales representative for the vendor Vaco who works in Google’s New York City offices sent a mass email on Wednesday to Google CEO Sundar Pichai and thousands of other Google employees alleging that in 2019 Google requested her employer, Vaco, place her on a continuous performance improvement plan for failing to attend meetings without prior warnings, write-ups, or documentation to explain the meetings she missed. She alleges that she never missed meetings without notifying her team first.

The contractor’s complaint alleges that Google discriminated against her for a “knee injury” by denying her training, giving her disciplinary notice, denying her request for accommodation for her disability and benefits, and harassing and intimidating her. The contractor so far has not been named.

The contractor alleges in the complaint:

I received this [performance improvement plan] on 11/13/2019 the day before my scheduled Knee Surgery on 11/14/19. I believe this was intended to cause psychological harm. Google is aware that during this time I was disabled and needed surgery. Since receiving the [performance improvement plan, I have not been invited to Higher Ed Monthly meetings that included other [temps, vendors, and contractors].

The contractor further alleges that a coworker on her team wen to her managers in February claiming that the did not “say hello” to her leading them to give the contractor a verbal warning. In the complaint the contractor states: “I developed acute chest pain relating to stress from this incident, exacerbating my anxiety disorder.”

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