14 ms·

Google Walkout Organizer Claire Stapleton Resigns

215 points by geodel 7y ago

flimflamvirII 7y ago
lovely jacket
eigenvector 7y ago
You can read Claire's reasons for leaving Google in her own words here: https://medium.com/@GoogleWalkout/why-a-googlewalkout-organizer-left-google-26d1e3fbe317 https://medium.com/@GoogleWalkout/why-a-googlewalkout-organi...
- onemoresoop 7y ago
  > Fast forward a few years and I’d moved to New York, cycled through Creative Lab and landed at YouTube. As I neared the ten-year mark, my first boss, Sally Cole, who’d left Google many years before, joked that I was surely due for an existential crisis. But when I got back to work after having my son Malcolm in 2017, it wasn’t me who was having an existential crisis. It was Google itself.
  - roymurdock 7y ago
    "The short explanation for my decision is my health: I’m having another baby in the fall (I acknowledge that there’s incredible privilege in being able to walk away from a job like this)."
    - m0zg 7y ago
      You make it sound like having a child is the main reason (which would, admittedly, be pretty normal anywhere other than at a progressive tech company - motherhood is hard), whereas the article suggests that the main reason is internal retaliation and gaslighting, and the baby is just the straw that broke the camel's back.
      - roymurdock 7y ago
        The commenter I replied to left out this important detail that is also somewhat buried 3/4 of the way into the letter. Definitely read her original statement and form your own opinion based on the source material.
    - kelnos 7y ago
      Cherry-picking the first sentence is a bit dishonest: "I made the choice after the heads of my department branded me with a kind of scarlet letter that makes it difficult to do my job or find another one. If I stayed, I didn’t just worry that there’d be more public flogging, shunning, and stress, I expected it." ... are the next two sentences, and sounds like this weighed on her just as heavily as a pending childbirth.
  - utopcell 7y ago
    A Star Trek TNG tag line comes to mind: "If there is nothing wrong with me, then there must be something wrong with the Universe".
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
heer4it 7y ago
These companies are so huge and such an integral part of society that they need to be made more accountable to the public, and forcing them to be more accountable to their workers is part of that. I think the recent proposal to require employee representation on the board of directors of $1B+ companies is a good start.
- StevePerkins 7y ago
  On Day One, the entire workforce of every company becomes "contractors". Labor does not have the leverage in most industries as it does in large tech. Even in tech it is cyclical. Younger readers here, who missed out on the 2001 and 2008 crashes, are going to have an eye-opening experience when the next recession gets here.
  - signal11 7y ago
    > On Day One, the entire workforce of every company becomes "contractors". This is going to be increasingly difficult in Europe as they focus on “disguised employees” or “perm-tractors”. The UK has already implemented this rule (IR35) for the public sector, with the private sector set to follow suit in 2020. And the EU are beginning to consider how to clamp down on the practice.
    - gubbrora 7y ago
      It seems a lot of Americans think well the rich will just find loopholes let's just give up. I don't get it.
      - smacktoward 7y ago
        The rich here spend an awful lot of money encouraging us to think that way.
      - munificent 7y ago
        Cynicism is one of the most effective tools of the powerful.
0815test 7y ago
She walked out for good. Gotta admire her integrity! Also this from her post just hits the nail on the head: > [Google leadership] are talking to everyone who thought my story sounded familiar, anyone who’s been Through It in some form: pushed out or punished for speaking up, gaslit, discriminated against, isolated, harassed. People are telling each other their stories. Refusing to acknowledge our humanity and engage with the deeper issues being raised - well, that's not very Googley. 'Nuff said. Google is going to have serious problems in the future unless they start addressing the obvious flaws in their company culture - their vulnerability to upstarts and competitors can only increase going forward!
- paul7986 7y ago
  Their arrogance and ignorance is already affecting them as many people I know no longer use Google search. Also check out DuckDuckGo on Alexa ... its now the 100th most popular site in the US and continues to increase its reach; 167 globally. Love to get away fully from Google myself! They are horrible and personally their arrogance and ignorance is catching up to them!
  - rstuart4133 7y ago
    > Their arrogance and ignorance is already affecting them as many people I know no longer use Google search. You're kidding yourself. Those people you know who are switching are having no material effect whatsoever: http://gs.statcounter.com/search-engine-market-share http://gs.statcounter.com/search-engine-market-share If anything, their market share is going up.
    - paul7986 7y ago
      Google won't be the same company in a few years or so! They are no longer the same company (not run or driven by it's founder's ethos)... most recently saying they will block ad blockers. Apple is all in on privacy ...Apple is as big or bigger then Google and makes it's money off of hardware & software not invasive/intrusive ads. Those who ride their same wave will no doubt see huge and or continued success! Check back on that counter in a few years! It will be a different story I guarantee you!
LordHumungous 7y ago
Far left activists will lose because they are fragile. You just have to deal them a setback and they give up.
- tdb7893 7y ago
  The far left activists I know were openly gay in the 90's and some of the most resilient people I know. What an absurd comment
  - LordHumungous 7y ago
    That was another generation.
- dang 7y ago
  Would you please not post unsubstantive comments here? You've done that repeatedly, and we ban accounts that do that repeatedly. Also, please don't use HN for ideological battle. Also, please eschew flamebait. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
  - LordHumungous 7y ago
    Sure thing, but I don't see how this story can possibly be discussed without engaging in an ideological debate.
    - dang 7y ago
      People use 'debate' to mean different things. What we want here: thoughtful conversation where people manage to hold space for the other side even when they strongly disagree. What we don't want: name-calling, fiery rhetoric, denunciation, shallow dismissals. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
roybahat 7y ago
Any predictions about whether the Google Walkout ends up feeling, five years from now, as the beginning of a movement or a flash in the pan?
- dudus 7y ago
  5 years? I think it already has mostly been forgotten
  - billy_beef 7y ago
    What are you talking about? It comes out like often in my world?
    - ohaideredevs 7y ago
      What is "your world" - no one here has even heard of it, or cares. If you take the time to think about it - swapping one incredibly high-paid job for another does not make you a martyr.
      - billy_beef 7y ago
        The tech world! Was trying to engage in dialog with the person I was responding to! You seem pretty upset so maybe chill out before engaging, have a good day!
        ohaideredevs 7y ago
        "You seem pretty upset" is a pretty passive aggressive statement. In fact, it's openly hostile since it's tantamount to stating that I am not in control of my (perceived by you) emotions (of which there are actually none). Coupled with you pretending to be the aggrieved, polite party, the irony is thick. In fact, needing to write this reply is pretty comical, thanks for the entertainment, I guess. Edit: The more I think about it the funnier it gets. Do you think I am "not in the tech world" and upset by it? Or that I don't earn a lot of money and am upset at that? I am genuinely curious in the assumptions you made to arrive at the conclusion that I am upset/offended.
busterarm 7y ago
Google also recently terminated the maintainer of the republicans@google list.
- fyoving 7y ago
  No politics talk at work seems to be the rational and only solution here.
  - busterarm 7y ago
    Our elders really knew how to do some things right.
    - ocdtrekkie 7y ago
      It's always entertaining when Silicon Valley companies learn that hundred-plus year companies have these stiff adult things called "rules" around for a reason. I can't imagine seriously engaging in significant political discussion at work, and can't imagine a positive outcome to it.
      - busterarm 7y ago
        Well, when a company actively tries to make its employees private life a service provided by the company, that's inevitably going to include their activism as well. The bigger companies in particular are your employer, your restaurant, your gym, your laundry service, your transportation, your social life...
        vonmoltke 7y ago
        > The bigger companies in particular are your employer, your restaurant, your gym, your laundry service, your transportation, your social life... What companies besides Google and Facebook could qualify as all of those?
        7y ago
hunter23 7y ago
I haven't worked at Google in a while. Is this the same Claire Stapleton that was responsible for doing the quirky Company weekly update / TGIF email? If so, it's a bit sad because when I worked at Google (2009 - 2012) she was one of the voices of the company (kind of like Victoria for Reddit AMAs).
- wutbrodo 7y ago
  Ah that's where I recognized the name. I remember her being a minor Google celebrity, to the point that Manu made her into a comic book character.
- hcnews 7y ago
  Yes, I think so. (xoogler myself).
- the-rc 7y ago
  It's her. She had a loyal following, second only to the guy that used to email the NYC office menus in 2007.
eanzenberg 7y ago
It's unfortunate.. I'm pretty sure this story is getting buried. It's insane GOOG would do these things, include threats of demotion. Who gets demoted these days anyways?
- GoodJokes 7y ago
  Unfortunately it is t that insane. This happens every day, every hour, and every minute in corporations around this country. For profit is t for people full stop. The bottom of the barrel is always feasible.
hiram112 7y ago
From what I can tell this woman wasn't even an engineer, yet somehow she was able to cause all sorts of HR issues and still jump from one cushy position to another. What is she complaining about, anyway? Didn't it just come to light that Google pays its women more than men? How many 'women of color' do they expect to work at Google when it's only a tiny majority who are getting CS degrees? And let's be honest, many of them are going to be less talented than similar men who aren't now being 'nudged through' the glass ceiling for social justice reasons. Hey Google - if you're listening: Plenty of guys like me out there who will gladly work there for $250K and equity. We actually have engineering degrees, won't complain about social justice all day, won't get pregnant and bail for months on end at your cost, won't cry at work, and will just get work done without the drama.
anonygler 7y ago
These posts are being written/orchestrated by Meredith Whittaker, a self-appointed “AI Expert” with a degree in Rhetorics. Claire, while she did amicable work organizing a walkout for employee conditions, also spent time participating in multiple, coordinated internal pressure campaigns that involved leaking confidential business plans. For that reason, her leaving the company is for the best. Meredith should do the same, as she’s the protester-in-chief who’s arbitrarily turned a 20% project into her full time job. What other company allows or tolerates this?
PunchTornado 7y ago
I don't get what she's on about. that the guy who led Android received some millions? really? he should have received billions. larry page screwed him over by offering only 50m and he said himself he felt guilty. and all of this for an alleged assault that was never proved, only labelled credible after an internal investigation? feel bad for the guy, he developed the most popular os and is not a billionaire.
- wbronitsky 7y ago
  And I don’t get what you’re on about! This comment is amazingly emblematic of how shitty and toxic the comments have gotten on this site. You dismiss outright the story of someone you could easily research, all for some pet pity party for some Google exec? Not only is this incredibly lazy rhetoric but it serves literally zero purpose other than to make you feel good about not understanding the reasons other people make decisions.
  - PunchTornado 7y ago
    the google exec who started android and then led it until it was installed on 2b devices. and he received only a couple of millions for that while whatsup and instagram founders are billionaires many times over. is the issue that he received millions instead of billions? if that's it, I'm behind her.
- twhb 7y ago
  He kept every penny of his compensation for his role in Android, and is a third of the way to being a billionaire. The walkout was over a separate, additional $90 million he received just to resign.
  - PunchTornado 7y ago
    and you think 90m is enough? he got only 50m when google bought android. whatsup and ig got billions. I think he deserved much more. 90m is peanuts compared to what he did for google and how important is android for them.
johan_larson 7y ago
Not too surprising. Organizations expect loyalty of their members, and particularly of their more senior members. Open protest, such as organizing a walkout, is an act of disloyalty, so it's not surprising that Claire suffered for what she did. She's lucky, I suppose, that she wasn't kicked out right after the walkout.

215 points by geodel 7y ago

lovely jacket

You can read Claire's reasons for leaving Google in her own words here: https://medium.com/@GoogleWalkout/why-a-googlewalkout-organizer-left-google-26d1e3fbe317 https://medium.com/@GoogleWalkout/why-a-googlewalkout-organi...

onemoresoop 7y ago
> Fast forward a few years and I’d moved to New York, cycled through Creative Lab and landed at YouTube. As I neared the ten-year mark, my first boss, Sally Cole, who’d left Google many years before, joked that I was surely due for an existential crisis. But when I got back to work after having my son Malcolm in 2017, it wasn’t me who was having an existential crisis. It was Google itself.
- roymurdock 7y ago
  "The short explanation for my decision is my health: I’m having another baby in the fall (I acknowledge that there’s incredible privilege in being able to walk away from a job like this)."
  - m0zg 7y ago
    You make it sound like having a child is the main reason (which would, admittedly, be pretty normal anywhere other than at a progressive tech company - motherhood is hard), whereas the article suggests that the main reason is internal retaliation and gaslighting, and the baby is just the straw that broke the camel's back.
    - roymurdock 7y ago
      The commenter I replied to left out this important detail that is also somewhat buried 3/4 of the way into the letter. Definitely read her original statement and form your own opinion based on the source material.
  - kelnos 7y ago
    Cherry-picking the first sentence is a bit dishonest: "I made the choice after the heads of my department branded me with a kind of scarlet letter that makes it difficult to do my job or find another one. If I stayed, I didn’t just worry that there’d be more public flogging, shunning, and stress, I expected it." ... are the next two sentences, and sounds like this weighed on her just as heavily as a pending childbirth.
- utopcell 7y ago
  A Star Trek TNG tag line comes to mind: "If there is nothing wrong with me, then there must be something wrong with the Universe".
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

heer4it 7y ago

These companies are so huge and such an integral part of society that they need to be made more accountable to the public, and forcing them to be more accountable to their workers is part of that. I think the recent proposal to require employee representation on the board of directors of $1B+ companies is a good start.

StevePerkins 7y ago
On Day One, the entire workforce of every company becomes "contractors". Labor does not have the leverage in most industries as it does in large tech. Even in tech it is cyclical. Younger readers here, who missed out on the 2001 and 2008 crashes, are going to have an eye-opening experience when the next recession gets here.
- signal11 7y ago
  > On Day One, the entire workforce of every company becomes "contractors". This is going to be increasingly difficult in Europe as they focus on “disguised employees” or “perm-tractors”. The UK has already implemented this rule (IR35) for the public sector, with the private sector set to follow suit in 2020. And the EU are beginning to consider how to clamp down on the practice.
  - gubbrora 7y ago
    It seems a lot of Americans think well the rich will just find loopholes let's just give up. I don't get it.
    - smacktoward 7y ago
      The rich here spend an awful lot of money encouraging us to think that way.
    - munificent 7y ago
      Cynicism is one of the most effective tools of the powerful.

0815test 7y ago

She walked out for good. Gotta admire her integrity! Also this from her post just hits the nail on the head: > [Google leadership] are talking to everyone who thought my story sounded familiar, anyone who’s been Through It in some form: pushed out or punished for speaking up, gaslit, discriminated against, isolated, harassed. People are telling each other their stories. Refusing to acknowledge our humanity and engage with the deeper issues being raised - well, that's not very Googley. 'Nuff said. Google is going to have serious problems in the future unless they start addressing the obvious flaws in their company culture - their vulnerability to upstarts and competitors can only increase going forward!

paul7986 7y ago
Their arrogance and ignorance is already affecting them as many people I know no longer use Google search. Also check out DuckDuckGo on Alexa ... its now the 100th most popular site in the US and continues to increase its reach; 167 globally. Love to get away fully from Google myself! They are horrible and personally their arrogance and ignorance is catching up to them!
- rstuart4133 7y ago
  > Their arrogance and ignorance is already affecting them as many people I know no longer use Google search. You're kidding yourself. Those people you know who are switching are having no material effect whatsoever: http://gs.statcounter.com/search-engine-market-share http://gs.statcounter.com/search-engine-market-share If anything, their market share is going up.
  - paul7986 7y ago
    Google won't be the same company in a few years or so! They are no longer the same company (not run or driven by it's founder's ethos)... most recently saying they will block ad blockers. Apple is all in on privacy ...Apple is as big or bigger then Google and makes it's money off of hardware & software not invasive/intrusive ads. Those who ride their same wave will no doubt see huge and or continued success! Check back on that counter in a few years! It will be a different story I guarantee you!

LordHumungous 7y ago

Far left activists will lose because they are fragile. You just have to deal them a setback and they give up.

tdb7893 7y ago
The far left activists I know were openly gay in the 90's and some of the most resilient people I know. What an absurd comment
- LordHumungous 7y ago
  That was another generation.
dang 7y ago
Would you please not post unsubstantive comments here? You've done that repeatedly, and we ban accounts that do that repeatedly. Also, please don't use HN for ideological battle. Also, please eschew flamebait. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- LordHumungous 7y ago
  Sure thing, but I don't see how this story can possibly be discussed without engaging in an ideological debate.
  - dang 7y ago
    People use 'debate' to mean different things. What we want here: thoughtful conversation where people manage to hold space for the other side even when they strongly disagree. What we don't want: name-calling, fiery rhetoric, denunciation, shallow dismissals. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

roybahat 7y ago

Any predictions about whether the Google Walkout ends up feeling, five years from now, as the beginning of a movement or a flash in the pan?

dudus 7y ago
5 years? I think it already has mostly been forgotten
- billy_beef 7y ago
  What are you talking about? It comes out like often in my world?
  - ohaideredevs 7y ago
    What is "your world" - no one here has even heard of it, or cares. If you take the time to think about it - swapping one incredibly high-paid job for another does not make you a martyr.
    - billy_beef 7y ago
      The tech world! Was trying to engage in dialog with the person I was responding to! You seem pretty upset so maybe chill out before engaging, have a good day!
      - ohaideredevs 7y ago
        "You seem pretty upset" is a pretty passive aggressive statement. In fact, it's openly hostile since it's tantamount to stating that I am not in control of my (perceived by you) emotions (of which there are actually none). Coupled with you pretending to be the aggrieved, polite party, the irony is thick. In fact, needing to write this reply is pretty comical, thanks for the entertainment, I guess. Edit: The more I think about it the funnier it gets. Do you think I am "not in the tech world" and upset by it? Or that I don't earn a lot of money and am upset at that? I am genuinely curious in the assumptions you made to arrive at the conclusion that I am upset/offended.

busterarm 7y ago

Google also recently terminated the maintainer of the republicans@google list.

fyoving 7y ago
No politics talk at work seems to be the rational and only solution here.
- busterarm 7y ago
  Our elders really knew how to do some things right.
  - ocdtrekkie 7y ago
    It's always entertaining when Silicon Valley companies learn that hundred-plus year companies have these stiff adult things called "rules" around for a reason. I can't imagine seriously engaging in significant political discussion at work, and can't imagine a positive outcome to it.
    - busterarm 7y ago
      Well, when a company actively tries to make its employees private life a service provided by the company, that's inevitably going to include their activism as well. The bigger companies in particular are your employer, your restaurant, your gym, your laundry service, your transportation, your social life...
      - vonmoltke 7y ago
        > The bigger companies in particular are your employer, your restaurant, your gym, your laundry service, your transportation, your social life... What companies besides Google and Facebook could qualify as all of those?
        7y ago

hunter23 7y ago

I haven't worked at Google in a while. Is this the same Claire Stapleton that was responsible for doing the quirky Company weekly update / TGIF email? If so, it's a bit sad because when I worked at Google (2009 - 2012) she was one of the voices of the company (kind of like Victoria for Reddit AMAs).

wutbrodo 7y ago
Ah that's where I recognized the name. I remember her being a minor Google celebrity, to the point that Manu made her into a comic book character.
hcnews 7y ago
Yes, I think so. (xoogler myself).
the-rc 7y ago
It's her. She had a loyal following, second only to the guy that used to email the NYC office menus in 2007.

eanzenberg 7y ago

It's unfortunate.. I'm pretty sure this story is getting buried. It's insane GOOG would do these things, include threats of demotion. Who gets demoted these days anyways?

GoodJokes 7y ago
Unfortunately it is t that insane. This happens every day, every hour, and every minute in corporations around this country. For profit is t for people full stop. The bottom of the barrel is always feasible.

hiram112 7y ago

From what I can tell this woman wasn't even an engineer, yet somehow she was able to cause all sorts of HR issues and still jump from one cushy position to another. What is she complaining about, anyway? Didn't it just come to light that Google pays its women more than men? How many 'women of color' do they expect to work at Google when it's only a tiny majority who are getting CS degrees? And let's be honest, many of them are going to be less talented than similar men who aren't now being 'nudged through' the glass ceiling for social justice reasons. Hey Google - if you're listening: Plenty of guys like me out there who will gladly work there for $250K and equity. We actually have engineering degrees, won't complain about social justice all day, won't get pregnant and bail for months on end at your cost, won't cry at work, and will just get work done without the drama.

anonygler 7y ago

These posts are being written/orchestrated by Meredith Whittaker, a self-appointed “AI Expert” with a degree in Rhetorics. Claire, while she did amicable work organizing a walkout for employee conditions, also spent time participating in multiple, coordinated internal pressure campaigns that involved leaking confidential business plans. For that reason, her leaving the company is for the best. Meredith should do the same, as she’s the protester-in-chief who’s arbitrarily turned a 20% project into her full time job. What other company allows or tolerates this?

PunchTornado 7y ago

I don't get what she's on about. that the guy who led Android received some millions? really? he should have received billions. larry page screwed him over by offering only 50m and he said himself he felt guilty. and all of this for an alleged assault that was never proved, only labelled credible after an internal investigation? feel bad for the guy, he developed the most popular os and is not a billionaire.

wbronitsky 7y ago
And I don’t get what you’re on about! This comment is amazingly emblematic of how shitty and toxic the comments have gotten on this site. You dismiss outright the story of someone you could easily research, all for some pet pity party for some Google exec? Not only is this incredibly lazy rhetoric but it serves literally zero purpose other than to make you feel good about not understanding the reasons other people make decisions.
- PunchTornado 7y ago
  the google exec who started android and then led it until it was installed on 2b devices. and he received only a couple of millions for that while whatsup and instagram founders are billionaires many times over. is the issue that he received millions instead of billions? if that's it, I'm behind her.
twhb 7y ago
He kept every penny of his compensation for his role in Android, and is a third of the way to being a billionaire. The walkout was over a separate, additional $90 million he received just to resign.
- PunchTornado 7y ago
  and you think 90m is enough? he got only 50m when google bought android. whatsup and ig got billions. I think he deserved much more. 90m is peanuts compared to what he did for google and how important is android for them.

johan_larson 7y ago

Not too surprising. Organizations expect loyalty of their members, and particularly of their more senior members. Open protest, such as organizing a walkout, is an act of disloyalty, so it's not surprising that Claire suffered for what she did. She's lucky, I suppose, that she wasn't kicked out right after the walkout.