Google recently fired 28 employees who participated in sit-in protests at two of its offices. This comes after escalating internal tensions over the Google's involvement in Project Nimbus, a substantial cloud computing deal with the Israeli government. This contract, valued at $1.2 billion and shared with Amazon, has drawn criticism from some employees concerned about the ethical implications of their company's role in government contracts.
The firings occurred after a disruptive protest in which participants occupied the office of Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian and were forcibly removed by law enforcement, according to a report by The Verge. This action follows the earlier dismissal of an employee last month for protesting the same project during a company presentation in Israel. In response to the recent sit-ins, Chris Rackow, Google’s head of global security, issued a firm memo to all employees. He stated that such behavior violates multiple company policies and would not be tolerated, indicating that Google might take further action if necessary.
Google Warns Employees
In the memo cited by The Verge, Rackow said, "a number of employees brought the event into our buildings in New York and Sunnyvale. They took over office spaces, defaced our property, and physically impeded the work of other Googlers. Their behavior was unacceptable, extremely disruptive, and made coworkers feel threatened."
He further informed that 28 employees were found to be involved and the company is investigating them and will take action. He said, "Behavior like this has no place in our workplace and we will not tolerate it. It clearly violates multiple policies that all employees must adhere to — including our Code of Conduct and Policy on Harassment, Discrimination, Retaliation, Standards of Conduct, and Workplace Concerns."
He also warned the employees planning to partake in the protest saying, "If you’re one of the few who are tempted to think we’re going to overlook conduct that violates our policies, think again. The company takes this extremely seriously"
Another report from CNBC claims that around nine protesters were arrested during the sit-in protest. The arrests were even live-streamed on Twitch. A few of the protesters who were arrested, sat in Kurian's office for over nine hours. Five of the workers were arrested at the company's Sunnyvale office and four were arrested from the New York office.
Activists Respond
The activist group "No Tech for Apartheid," which has been vocal against Project Nimbus for three years, called the firings a "flagrant act of retaliation." They argue that the protests were a peaceful attempt to engage with the company about the Nimbus project and that the dismissals were an unfair response to employees exercising their right to protest.
Business Today has reached out to Google for a response.