Google Is Reportedly Being Probed by California Labor Agency Over Treatment of Black Female Workers

According to two people familiar with the situation and emails obtained by Reuters, California’s civil rights regulator is looking into Google’s treatment of Black female employees following allegations of harassment and discrimination.

According to the documents and sources, attorneys and analysts at the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) have repeatedly interviewed several Black women who have worked at the Alphabet-owned company about their experiences there. To avoid jeopardizing the work, the sources spoke on the condition of anonymity.

According to the emails, the concerns have centered on alleged workplace harassment and discrimination. Conversations have occurred as recently as last month, according to one of the sources.

The DFEH did not respond to a request for comment.

Google stated that it is committed to “building sustainable equity” for its Black employees and that 2020 will be its busiest year for hiring what it refers to as “Black+” workers, a designation that includes people of multiple races.

“Our goal is to ensure that every employee has an inclusive experience at Google,” the company stated. “We will continue to focus on this critical work and thoroughly investigate any concerns in order to ensure that our workplace is representative and equitable.”

According to the sources, the DFEH has interviewed both workers who have filed formal complaints and those who have not, indicating that the regulator is looking for more examples of potential mistreatment.

The agency is involved in ongoing lawsuits alleging widespread discrimination and harassment against video game companies Tencent’s Riot Games and Activision Blizzard.

However, charges are not always filed in its cases.

For years, Black men in the technology industry have complained about disparaging remarks and demoralizing experiences, such as being barred from entering offices because security guards and colleagues questioned whether they actually worked there.

Such complaints have increased as more Black women have entered the labor force. This year, seven current and former Google employees told Reuters that they were marginalized on projects as Black women and were not taken as seriously as colleagues from other backgrounds.

Timnit Gebru, an artificial intelligence researcher, claims she was fired by Google a year ago for criticizing the company’s lack of workforce diversity and fighting managers who objected to the publication of a critical paper she co-wrote. Erika Munro Kennerly, who oversaw Google’s diversity and strategy teams before resigning last year, told the magazine Corporate Counsel in January that as a Black woman at Google, “there’s an overall tone of being undervalued.”

According to company data, workers identifying as “Black+ female” left Google at the highest rate of any racial-gender group other than “Native American+ female” last year. Google announced last year that it intended to increase retention by increasing support staffing and programs.