Former Google engineer James Damore, who was fired in August after distributing a memo criticizing the company's diversity efforts, filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against Google Monday, according to CNBC.
Mr. Damore wrote in his memo, which went viral at the time, that Google is "left leaning" and women were underrepresented in the technology industry because of biological differences, not hiring practices. This sparked a conversation on Silicon Valley's sexism and the gender gap throughout the tech industry.
The lawsuit, filed in the Santa Clara Superior Court, also lists David Gudeman, another former Google employee fired in December 2016, as a plaintiff. It alleges Google "discriminated against employees for their perceived conservative political views," as well as their "male gender" and "Caucasian race."
The lawsuit's proposed class includes all Google employees the company may have discriminated against for being male, Caucasian or conservative, CNBC reports. The plaintiffs are seeking monetary, non-monetary and punitive damages.
The suit also alleges that Google has "open hostility for conservative thought," which "ostracized, belittled and punished" Mr. Damore and others. It further claims the company is an "ideological echo chamber" that uses "illegal hiring quotas" at the expense of white males.
"Google employees who expressed views deviating from the majority view at Google on political subjects raised in the workplace and relevant to Google's employment policies and its business, such as 'diversity' hiring policies, 'bias sensitivity,' or 'social justice' were/are singled out, mistreated, and systematically punished and terminated from Google, in violation of their legal rights," the lawsuit states, according to CNBC.
A Google spokesperson told CNBC the company "looks forward to defending against Mr. Damore's lawsuit in court."
More articles on health IT:
Intel faces 3 class-action lawsuits in wake of chip flaws
National HIE consortium rolls out data sharing, notification system across US
Illinois suspends tax credit agreement with Outcome Health: 4 things to know