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About half the ex Google employees I've spoken to recently talk about projects starting and getting cancelled frequently and often with little warning. It would

About half the ex Google employees I've spoken to recently talk about projects starting and getting cancelled frequently and often with little warning. It would be suspicious if these events were limited to the people that protested, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Not to mention, while raising complaints about sexual assault would be protected, criticizing Google's decisions to do military contracts and open in China are not. If the company doesn't like what you're saying, and it's not specifically in one of those protected categories, then the company can fire you.

elliekelly 8y ago
You're absolutely correct that a company can fire you for expressing an opinion but I think there's an important distinction that's often missed in the discussion because these are white collar employees. If an employee had simply made a public statement critical of government contracts they could be fired for cause and it would be a non-issue (from a legal perspective, at least). But where Google runs into retaliation trouble isn't with what the employees have said but with how they're saying it: in a group. Employees have an affirmative _right_ under the NLRA to join together and engage in "concerted activity" to advocate for their interests and to do so without interference or coercion from their employer. It doesn't matter whether the employees are critical of sexual harassment or the food in the cafeteria, if two or more of them are making the statement jointly then the matter is far more complicated because the employees have additional rights.
- manfredo 8y ago
  > Employees have an affirmative _right_ under the NLRA to join together and engage in "concerted activity" to advocate for their interests and to do so without interference or coercion from their employer. For discussing working conditions like better pay, better benefits, etc. Not for getting on a soapbox and proclaiming that your employer is being morally bad. Yes, it absolutely does matter whether the employees are talking about sexual harassment vs. making moral criticisms of Google.
  - elliekelly 8y ago
    > Not for getting on a soapbox and proclaiming that your employer is being morally bad. Criticizing management (for example, for soliciting and accepting government contracts) and advocating for change to company policy (for example, to no longer sell controversial technology to government entities) is well-established protected concerted activity. Additionally, political speech (for example, "we don't support selling controversial technology to government entities") is also protected when there is a direct nexus between the political speech and the employees' interests "as employees." (The NLRB was feeling lazy the day they came up with that definition...) Recently the NLRB ruled that a company wrongfully fired employees in retaliation for missing work to attend a pro-immigration protest. IIRC the company hadn't even taken any actions against the employees (or in general) that could be considered "anti immigration" but their group attendance of the protest was protected concerted activity.[1] And the employees in that case missed their shifts at work (generally a fireable offense) and they weren't even criticizing management - they were criticizing the federal government. [1] [PDF Download] https://apps.nlrb.gov/link/document.aspx/09031d458270d0e8 https://apps.nlrb.gov/link/document.aspx/09031d458270d0e8
    - manfredo 8y ago
      You should read your link in greater detail. The NRLB recommended taking the employer to court in that case, but we'd have to see how that case plays out to know whether firing employees for skipping work to attend a protest is not legal. The NRLB is quasi-judicial, their word is not law.
deleted 8y ago
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elliekelly 8y ago

You're absolutely correct that a company can fire you for expressing an opinion but I think there's an important distinction that's often missed in the discussion because these are white collar employees. If an employee had simply made a public statement critical of government contracts they could be fired for cause and it would be a non-issue (from a legal perspective, at least). But where Google runs into retaliation trouble isn't with what the employees have said but with how they're saying it: in a group. Employees have an affirmative _right_ under the NLRA to join together and engage in "concerted activity" to advocate for their interests and to do so without interference or coercion from their employer. It doesn't matter whether the employees are critical of sexual harassment or the food in the cafeteria, if two or more of them are making the statement jointly then the matter is far more complicated because the employees have additional rights.

manfredo 8y ago
> Employees have an affirmative _right_ under the NLRA to join together and engage in "concerted activity" to advocate for their interests and to do so without interference or coercion from their employer. For discussing working conditions like better pay, better benefits, etc. Not for getting on a soapbox and proclaiming that your employer is being morally bad. Yes, it absolutely does matter whether the employees are talking about sexual harassment vs. making moral criticisms of Google.
- elliekelly 8y ago
  > Not for getting on a soapbox and proclaiming that your employer is being morally bad. Criticizing management (for example, for soliciting and accepting government contracts) and advocating for change to company policy (for example, to no longer sell controversial technology to government entities) is well-established protected concerted activity. Additionally, political speech (for example, "we don't support selling controversial technology to government entities") is also protected when there is a direct nexus between the political speech and the employees' interests "as employees." (The NLRB was feeling lazy the day they came up with that definition...) Recently the NLRB ruled that a company wrongfully fired employees in retaliation for missing work to attend a pro-immigration protest. IIRC the company hadn't even taken any actions against the employees (or in general) that could be considered "anti immigration" but their group attendance of the protest was protected concerted activity.[1] And the employees in that case missed their shifts at work (generally a fireable offense) and they weren't even criticizing management - they were criticizing the federal government. [1] [PDF Download] https://apps.nlrb.gov/link/document.aspx/09031d458270d0e8 https://apps.nlrb.gov/link/document.aspx/09031d458270d0e8
  - manfredo 8y ago
    You should read your link in greater detail. The NRLB recommended taking the employer to court in that case, but we'd have to see how that case plays out to know whether firing employees for skipping work to attend a protest is not legal. The NRLB is quasi-judicial, their word is not law.

deleted 8y ago

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