Google faces lawsuit for racial bias against black employees

Google has been filed with a lawsuit on accusations of systemic racial bias against Black employees. In the complaint, it has been stated that the company steers black employees to lower-level jobs, pays them less and denies them opportunities to advance because of their race.

News agency Reuters reported that in the complaint, Google has been described as a “racially biased corporate culture". that favours white men, where Black people comprise only 4.4% of employees and about 3% of leadership and its technology workforce.

Complainant April Curley brought an allegation against Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) unit of the company saying that it subjected Blacks to a hostile work environment, including by often requiring they show identification or be questioned by security at its Mountain View, California campus.

Curley filed the complaint with the federal court in San Jose of California after the state's civil rights regulator, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, began investigating Google's treatment of Black female workers and possible discrimination in their workplace. 

Curley also noted that her employment with Google which started in 2014, was nothing but a "marketing ploy," as supervisors began denigrating her work, stereotyping her as an "angry" Black woman and passing her over for promotions. She said that her appointment was just a  part of Google’s outreach program to historically Black colleges.

Curley said Google fired her in September 2020 after she and her colleagues began working on a list of desired reforms.

Reuters quoted Curley’s lawyer Ben Crump saying, “While Google claims that they were looking to increase diversity, they were actually undervaluing, underpaying and mistreating their Black employees.”

Curley's lawsuit seeks to recoup compensatory and punitive damages and lost compensation for current and former Black employees at Google and to restore them to their appropriate positions and seniority.