Google is coming up with a new case. A former black employee of an American group filed a complaint Friday against a tech company that accused him of racial discrimination, believing he had no low pay and no promotion. In a document filed in federal court in San Jose, California, April Curley’s lawyers claim that “Google continues to engage in racist practices against its black and African-American employees.”
Curley was hired by Google in April 2014 to create recruitment programs for black American students, but he claims to have been ostracized and discriminated against by his former employer, who has reportedly used himself as a “marketing stunt”.
read more: Google has filed a lawsuit alleging pay discrimination
He specifically claims to have been victimized by stereotypes related to black women in the United States, described as “intimidating”, “hostile” and “angry” by one of his white superiors. The same officer would have opposed her pay rise and professional promotion.
Large-scale discrimination
April Curley was fired from Google in September 2020, which he considers illegal, and he describes the report as a response to his attempts to expose discriminatory practices within the company.
“April Curly was an exceptional employee at Google,” said Ben Crump, one of the plaintiff’s lawyers, in a statement known for protecting many black people affected by police violence. “She was hired below her capacity and sent back and forth unfairly for promotions. Although Google claims to be trying to strengthen diversity, the truth is that it underestimates its black employees, pays less and misbehaves, which leads to higher revenue.
Media Warning: @AtorneyCrump & Stowell & Friedman are suing April Curley and other former and current black employees at Google. A press conference will be held on Monday (3/21) at 11 AM PT where Google employees will share stories about their racism. pic.twitter.com/NGpR2bOAU7
– Ben Crump Law, PLLC (enBenCrumpLaw) March 18, 2022
An open investigation
The California group complains of large-scale discrimination. For example, only 4.4% of Google employees define themselves as black, compared to 9.1% nationally for companies with the same functionality. Executive positions are occupied by only 3% of black employees, underlining the court document.
April Curley’s lawyers have filed a class action on the grounds that other black Google employees have suffered discrimination similar to what April Curley experienced, and therefore should be compensated.
Read again: In Switzerland, nearly 600 cases of racism were reported by 2020.
Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online.
AFP asked, and Google did not immediately respond.