Former Google employees accuse company of abuse in NLRB case

While the judges considered the subpoenas for almost a year case that hole Google against its workers, the company’s former employees are doing their part to highlight the growing tension between the two sides.

Three former Google employees filed a lawsuit this week, accusing their former employer of terminating their contracts over objections to a cloud agreement Google signed with its own Customs and Border Patrol. Trump administration in 2019.

Rebecca Rivers, Sophie Waldman and Paul Duke allege in the complaint that when they were hired by Google, they were asked to sign a contract that included the company’s catchphrase “Don’t be evil”. The plaintiffs allege that Google violated the agreement and are seeking compensation and other relief for having suffered “significant damage to its reputation and ability to be profitably redeployed.”

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has little reason to worry financially — it has more than $140 billion in cash and equivalents on its balance sheet and a market capitalization of about 1.9k. billion USD. But a string of employee outings, internal battles over how the company uses its artificial intelligence technology, and lawsuits over the treatment of its workforce is likely. severe stress for a company that has long prided itself on a culture of openness and inclusion.

Last December, the US National Labor Relations Board filed complaint against Google, accusing the company of unlawfully terminating contracts and surveying employees in retaliation for their consolidation efforts. The trial has been paused for the past few months while judges review the subpoena and it is unclear when it will resume.

Laurie Burgess, an attorney representing former employees who sued Google this week, said the latest lawsuit is in part meant as “a reminder that this is still alive and well.”

In response, a Google spokesperson issued the following statement to CNBC on Saturday afternoon: “As we confirmed in 2019, like most companies, we attract dozens of consultants. and outside law firms to provide us with advice on a wide range of topics, including employers’ obligations and employee engagement. This includes short-term IRI Consulting. I disagree with the Special Person’s ruling that he misinterpreted various legal privilege documents and are reviewing our options.”

This week, an NLRB judge, Paul Bogas, ordered Google to unsealed more than 70 documents related to its communications with IRI Consultants, which describes itself as an industrial relations firm. . The NLRB alleges that the IRI was hired as part of an effort against Google’s union, which legal documents show was named “Project Vivian”. Bogas issued a 13-page response, saying the company was “unreliable” and attempting to misrepresent the document’s classification. “My assessment indicates that Respondent made substantial concurrent efforts to provide a third party, unlawfully, with this privileged form of communication material,” Bogas wrote. “Many of these are, or relate to, the development of campaign material, where IRI provides antiunion message and message amplification strategies and training tailored to the Payer’s workforce. word as well as social media and news environments.” In January, Googlers got together to make create Alphabet’s Workers Union, currently comprised of more than 800 members. While currently making up less than 1% of the company’s total workforce, unions are demonstrating that they have strong and active intentions. It supports Google workers, employed by the contract company Adecco, who just won a battle against the company and Google after the company returned to a temporary worker bonus program in data centers. “” Ned McNally, a temporary employee at Google’s data center in Council Bluffs, Iowa, told New York Times last month after the victory.

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