6 ms·

Will watch this with interest AFAIK discriminating against conservative white men isn’t illegal. It’s not a protected class. There must be some twist here.

dmitrygr 9y ago
In California, workplace discrimination due to politics is illegal [1] In USA, discrimination due to sex is illegal. [1] https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=1102&lawCode=LAB https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySectio...
- vorotato 9y ago
  Yes, discrimination against men, and or white people is illegal. They can show though that they hire plenty of white men. You are correct in California you cannot discriminate against employees due to politics, however I'm sure they'd be able to show they hire plenty of republicans. It is also an uphill battle for Damore since he'd basically be claiming that he was discriminated against at the same time as arguing that they shouldn't do more to balance the apparent discrimination against women. Whether or not any of that is true, it's going to be a hard sell to a California jury
  - dmitrygr 9y ago
    > however I'm sure they'd be able to show they hire plenty of republicans Discrimination is not just about hiring but also about workplace comfort. And let me tell you, being a non-democrat at google is NOT comfortable! VERY not comfortable!
    - vorotato 9y ago
      IANAL, but as I understand it, it depends on what causes the discomfort. If your discomfort comes from the existence of other protected classes, like a baptist in a den of atheists then it's tough beans. If however you can evidence that they've created a hostile environment for you outside of your relation to other protected classes then yes that makes sense.
      - throwaway233456 9y ago
        How about the CEO onstage saying "this company is no place for anyone who voted Trump" ?
  - jacksmith21006 9y ago
    Problem is that it had nothing to do with politics. Did you not see the memo and what Damore wrote? Nobody could have kept Damore around and the proof is nobody will hire him.
  - manfredo 9y ago
    > however I'm sure they'd be able to show they hire plenty of republicans. Would they? Do you work in Silicon Valley, and if so how many Republican members did you meet on the teams you worked on. In 6+ years of work, my count is exactly 1.
- chrissnell 9y ago
  I don't understand why you're being downvoted. What you said is factually correct and relevant to the story.
vorotato 9y ago
Race and Sex are actually protected classes. Conservative however yes is totally not federally protected and neither is Socialist, or Liberal. Frankly I think that's weird, but the law is the law.
- mikeryan 9y ago
  But I'm not sure[1] that you can combine classes like this to create a new protected class. No one is making the argument that Google discriminates based on race or sex. If this is more of a harassment suit then a discrimination claim it seems to have more legs. [1] I'm really not sure, I'm not kidding that I'm interested in how this plays out.
  - noonesays 9y ago
    > No one is making the argument that Google discriminates based on race or sex. The third cause of action of the filing is literally "workplace discrimination due to gender and/or race in violation of FEHA".
dragonwriter 9y ago
> Will watch this with interest AFAIK discriminating against conservative white men isn’t illegal. He is alleging three separate basic things (it's really a triple-class action; there are three separate classes that the case seeks to represent) (1) Violation of California's law against employer control/coercion of employee political activity. (2) race discrimination, (3) sex discrimination. (There's other charges, but they are basically derivative of those.)
hguant 9y ago
IANAL. Discriminating against someone because of their political activities is illegal in California. Whether simply holding and/or expressing views consistent with a political party counts as a 'political activity' or if there's a higher criteria is a question for a lawyer. Also, my understanding of how discrimination laws work is that the question of 'protected class' doesn't come into it - if the discrimination was based on race or gender, it's illegal.

dmitrygr 9y ago

In California, workplace discrimination due to politics is illegal [1] In USA, discrimination due to sex is illegal. [1] https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=1102&lawCode=LAB https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySectio...

vorotato 9y ago
Yes, discrimination against men, and or white people is illegal. They can show though that they hire plenty of white men. You are correct in California you cannot discriminate against employees due to politics, however I'm sure they'd be able to show they hire plenty of republicans. It is also an uphill battle for Damore since he'd basically be claiming that he was discriminated against at the same time as arguing that they shouldn't do more to balance the apparent discrimination against women. Whether or not any of that is true, it's going to be a hard sell to a California jury
- dmitrygr 9y ago
  > however I'm sure they'd be able to show they hire plenty of republicans Discrimination is not just about hiring but also about workplace comfort. And let me tell you, being a non-democrat at google is NOT comfortable! VERY not comfortable!
  - vorotato 9y ago
    IANAL, but as I understand it, it depends on what causes the discomfort. If your discomfort comes from the existence of other protected classes, like a baptist in a den of atheists then it's tough beans. If however you can evidence that they've created a hostile environment for you outside of your relation to other protected classes then yes that makes sense.
    - throwaway233456 9y ago
      How about the CEO onstage saying "this company is no place for anyone who voted Trump" ?
- jacksmith21006 9y ago
  Problem is that it had nothing to do with politics. Did you not see the memo and what Damore wrote? Nobody could have kept Damore around and the proof is nobody will hire him.
- manfredo 9y ago
  > however I'm sure they'd be able to show they hire plenty of republicans. Would they? Do you work in Silicon Valley, and if so how many Republican members did you meet on the teams you worked on. In 6+ years of work, my count is exactly 1.
chrissnell 9y ago
I don't understand why you're being downvoted. What you said is factually correct and relevant to the story.

vorotato 9y ago

Race and Sex are actually protected classes. Conservative however yes is totally not federally protected and neither is Socialist, or Liberal. Frankly I think that's weird, but the law is the law.

mikeryan 9y ago
But I'm not sure[1] that you can combine classes like this to create a new protected class. No one is making the argument that Google discriminates based on race or sex. If this is more of a harassment suit then a discrimination claim it seems to have more legs. [1] I'm really not sure, I'm not kidding that I'm interested in how this plays out.
- noonesays 9y ago
  > No one is making the argument that Google discriminates based on race or sex. The third cause of action of the filing is literally "workplace discrimination due to gender and/or race in violation of FEHA".

dragonwriter 9y ago

> Will watch this with interest AFAIK discriminating against conservative white men isn’t illegal. He is alleging three separate basic things (it's really a triple-class action; there are three separate classes that the case seeks to represent) (1) Violation of California's law against employer control/coercion of employee political activity. (2) race discrimination, (3) sex discrimination. (There's other charges, but they are basically derivative of those.)

hguant 9y ago

IANAL. Discriminating against someone because of their political activities is illegal in California. Whether simply holding and/or expressing views consistent with a political party counts as a 'political activity' or if there's a higher criteria is a question for a lawyer. Also, my understanding of how discrimination laws work is that the question of 'protected class' doesn't come into it - if the discrimination was based on race or gender, it's illegal.