A Google engineer, James Damore, lost his job at Google after using a company-wide memo to criticize the company's diversity hiring campaigns and make comments about women being "less qualified" for engineer positions due to their gender. In response to his firing, Damore filed a class action against the mega-company, citing discrimination against "white conservative males" as the reasoning behind it. In order to get a better grasp on this ongoing and controversial case, FOX Business News recently featured Attorney Erin Ehrlich of Ehrlich, Petriello, Gudin, Plaza & Reed, Attorneys at Law in Newark in an interview.
Attorney Ehrlich began the segment by discussing protected classes in California, where the Google discrimination lawsuit is filed. She noted that political views, which seem to be the basis of Damore's statements, are not a protected class under the state's employment laws. Additionally, companies in all states have a right to forward their own company's agendas and appearance to the public by encouraging or discouraging employee behavior, especially when an employee is acting under a company title.
In his defense, Damore apparently claimed that he was not expressing his own viewpoint but rather relayed what he had read in scientific studies. In response, Attorney Ehrlich mentioned that the views released in his memo were antiquated and no longer acceptable by moral and societal guidelines far and wide. There is an overarching idea behind this lawsuit that "liberals in Silicon Valley" are discriminating against conservatives, but Ehrlich's point offers a valid counter. Damore and his attorneys will need to find a way to overcome her counterpoints and those like it if this discrimination lawsuit is to be seen by the court with merit.
For more information about this ongoing story, you can click here to read a full article from NPR. If you need a Newark litigation attorney for a complex or high-stakes case of your own, you can come to Ehrlich, Petriello, Gudin, Plaza & Reed, Attorneys at Law for help. We manage a wide variety of case types, from commercial litigation and construction law to criminal defense and personal injury. Learn more by contacting our firm today.
