David Gudeman has joined James Damore in the lawsuit against Google. Gudeman worked for Google from Oct 2013 to Dec 2016 at which point he was terminated.
Gudeman claims he faced discrimination based on the fact
that he is a conservative, Caucasian and male, which he claims was the bases
for his termination.
The Derail Document
On or about August 20, 2015 Kim Burchett, an L7 SWE Manager,
published a document and posted it on a Google-employees only website. This
document was titled “Derailing” and it discussed how individuals might attempt
to silence someone’s opinions or distract from someone’s point of view.
The target audience of this document was Caucasian males and
conflated ‘marginalization’ with ‘white male privilege.’ Essentially this
document stated that if you disagreed with any statement about bias, prejudice,
or privilege then you were guilty of “derailment.”
The thesis of this document is that on this one particular
set of topics, the left-wing political frame of systematic bias, must always
dominate. The receiver must accept that frame and its associated worldview as
the only form of acceptable response.
Disagreeing with this article Gudeman left a comment stating
his belief that men “need to understand that [Caucasian males] are the victims
of a racist and sexist political movement and it is not their fault.” He
continued stating that “the point of this document is to disallow any defense
at all that a man might make when some woman complains about bias. There is no
defense. The woman is always right. The man has no alternative but to submit to
her superior moral position. We have a word for that attitude, it’s called ‘sexism.’”
After his comments, others stated that he was
misinterpreting the document. Gudeman responded, “Well if that’s the point then
you could be clearer, because all I’m getting from this document is that when
anyone claims bias, there is no possible defense, not even the defense that the
bias did not exist.”
He went on to suggest that “Maybe a section on what a man
should do when a woman accuses him of bias in order to protect himself from a
system that is highly biased against him.”
He was attacked by other Googlers for his comments to which
he tried to further clarify, stating that “I started out intending to change
minds by explaining logically and rationally what is offensive about this
document. In response, I was treated dismissively.”
Gudeman also compared the document to that which “slave
owners would have written for their slaves to help them understand how to
interact with their masters,” in an attempt to point out the prejudices within
the document.
Burchett, in reply to Gudeman stated that she was “[r]esolving
this comment. Also escalating to management.” Ironically, other Google
employees began to “derail” Gudeman’s point of view. Hiding behind the guise of
advocating for an open dialogue, Burchett merely reported Googlers that
disagreed with the thesis of her document to Google management as being “un-Googley.”
Punishment for Views
on Racism and Discrimination
In September 2015, after being reported to Google, Google HR
spoke with Gudeman about his points of view on race and/or gender equality and
his political viewpoints. Gudeman was chastised by Google HR for attempting to
stand up for Caucasian males and his conservative views.
At the end of the meeting Gudeman was issued a verbal
warning. Gudeman saw this as a lack of fairness toward conservatives while
liberals were free to express their thoughts and opinions without
repercussions.
After Trump’s elections to the Presidency of the United
States many employees at Google began to panic, having expected a different
outcome. On November 10, 2016 in response to employee posting on Google-wide
forums regarding fears about the new administration, Gudeman wrote that anyone “who
believes President Trump will be out to get minorities, women or gays has
absorbed a lot of serious lies from their echo chamber. And the echo chamber is
entirely one sided. You can’t watch TV or go to movies without being constantly
confronted with the leftist world view. Leftists can go their whole life never
being exposed to the conservative world view except in shows written by people
hostile to it.”
In another response to another Google employee Gudeman wrote
“[i]f you truly think Trump is anything like a Nazi or Isis [sic], or wants to
hurt gays, women or the disabled, then you are so badly out of touch it borders
on delusional. If you don’t truly believe those things but are saying them
anyway then shame on you for trying to stir up fear and hatred.”
Termination
On November 9th, 2016, Sarmad Gilani, a Google
employee, posted the following message on an internal Google forum. “As someone
already targeted by the FBI (including at work) for being a Muslim, I’m worried
for my personal safety and liberty. Will Google take a public stand to defend
minorities and use its influence, or just issue the usual politically nuanced
statements about our values.”
Gudeman responded skeptically asking “In the administration
of the most pro-Muslim president in history you were targeted just for being a
Muslim? Why didn’t you file a civil rights suit? The Justice Department would
take your side if it really happened.”
Responses to this comment were dismissive of Gudeman and
accused him of calling Gilani a liar. Gudeman explained that he “would not
suggest [Gilani] was lying without specific knowledge of the case.”
Gudeman remained skeptical of the story and offered
additional motives the FBI would have for looking into Gilani, such as a recent
trip to Pakistan. In response a fellow Google employee became hostile and
stated she had to escalate this thread, reporting it to Google HR.
While speaking to another Google employee on November 10,
2016 Gudeman complained about his treatment as a conservative and a Trump
supporter. Gudeman pointed out “Trump supporters are a hated and despised
minority at Google. Googlers feel comfortable slandering them in a public forum
and assume there will be no consequences.”
This was met with anger and accusations of “gaslighting.” Gaslighting
is a term for manipulating (someone) by psychological means into questioning
their own sanity. On December 5th, 2016 Google HR reached out to
Gudeman to discuss his comments, including those surrounding the Gilani post.
Google HR stated that Gudeman had accused Gilani of
terrorism based on Gilani’s religion, and that this was unacceptable. As a
result of Gudeman’s “accusations” Google stated that he was being terminated.
Gudeman attempted to question the logic behind a co-worker’s
story of victimization on the basis of his race and religion and because of his
political affiliations, Gudeman was retaliated against and fired.
Google employees were not allowed to question the diversity
narrative of the company, even to the point of questioning politically-charged
factual assertions by fellow employees to prove their own political agendas.
This culture at Google was severe enough that employees such
as Gudeman were bullied into silence and required to tolerate harassment without
pushing back. Google’s management refused to consider their concerns to be valid
or even worthy of investigation.
Authors Note
If what Gudeman is claiming in this lawsuit is true, it is
clear that Google not only openly discriminates based on gender, ethnicity, and
political belief but has created and fosters this sort of behavior at all
levels of the company.
This is part two of a three part series that covers the
David Gudeman section of the lawsuit from page 16 to 21. Part three will cover
the other class action claims being made against Google covering page 21 to 49.
Pages 49 to 62 cover the cause for action part of the lawsuit with the remaining
pages covering Exhibits being presented in court. In these exhibits you can
find internal posts, memes, comments, calls to political violence, and open
discrimination against Caucasian’s, Men, and Conservatives.
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