Just one week after a former Google employee accused the company of discriminating against conservatives, a viral memo from a current employee alleges the company has been engaging in discrimination against pregnant women.
According to Motherboard, a memo written by a Google employee alleges that she was unfairly discriminated against for being pregnant. More than 10,000 employees have now read the accusations she laid out.
“Last week, the woman posted the memo, titled ‘I’m Not Returning to Google After Maternity Leave, and Here is Why,’ to an internal company message board for expecting and new mothers,” reports the outlet. “The memo was reposted to other internal message boards and has since gone viral, multiple current Google employees in different parts of the company have told Motherboard.”
In her 2,300-word memo, the woman stated that she hoped her message would bring enough pressure on the tech giant to reform their discrimination practices.
“I’m sharing this statement because I hope it informs needed change in how Google handles discrimination, harassment and retaliation,” she wrote. “This is a long read, but the details are important in understanding the often drawn-out, isolating and painful experience of victims of discrimination, harassment and retaliation. Also, if anything similar has happened to you, know that you’re not alone.”
She went on to claim how her manager (a woman) made inappropriate remarks about pregnant women and that she reported it to HR. In short order, she alleges that the manager retaliated with “angry chats and emails” about her.
“I documented what my boss was saying and reached out to HR to ask for help in navigating the situation. It was shared that others had reported my manager behaving inappropriately and that feedback had already been given to her. I was told my comments might be shared directly with my boss, but not to worry because strong measures are in place at Google to prevent retaliation,” she wrote. “Almost immediately upon my discussions with HR, my manager’s demeanor towards me changed, and drastically. I endured months of angry chats and emails, vetoed projects, her ignoring me during in-person encounters, and public shaming.”
Eventually, the woman joined another team, but the situation allegedly did not improve with her new manager. For example, when she learned that potentially life-threatening complications for the baby would force her to go on maternity leave early, the manager allegedly began to gaslight her into feeling guilty about leaving.
“During one conversation with my new manager in which I reiterated an early leave and upcoming bedrest, she told me that she had just listened to an NPR segment that debunked the benefits of bedrest,” the woman wrote. “She also shared that her doctor had ordered her to take bedrest, but that she ignored the order and worked up until the day before she delivered her son via cesarean section. My manager then emphasized in this same meeting that a management role was no longer guaranteed upon my return from maternity leave, and that she supported my interviewing for other roles at Google.”
Though Motherboard verified the memo’s authenticity and that over 10,000 employees had read the accusation, it could not confirm the veracity of the woman’s claims. In a statement, Google claimed that it has protections in place against workplace retaliation.
“We prohibit retaliation in the workplace and publicly share our very clear policy. To make sure that no complaint raised goes unheard at Google, we give employees multiple channels to report concerns, including anonymously, and investigate all allegations of retaliation,” the statement read.
The memo arrives just one week after former Google tech engineer Kevin Cernekee alleged that the company discriminates against conservatives and fired him for supporting them within the company.