Since he was unceremoniously fired, ex-Google engineer James Damore — who penned a now-infamous memo using “science” to explain the differences between men and women — has been on something of a warpath. Immediately following his termination, Damore told the press he’d be seeking legal action. Which he has. First, there was a formal complaint filed against Google with the National Labor Relations Board. “It’s illegal to retaliate against an NLRB charge,” Damore wrote in an email to Reuters. Now, Damore is being represented by Harmeet Dhillon, a civil-rights attorney who is also vice-chairman of the California Republican Party. (You might remember her saying a Sikh prayer during the 2016 RNC. Earlier this year, she was reportedly considered for a White House position under Attorney General Jeff Sessions.)
Dhillon’s firm, with Damore, is “investigating Google’s employment discrimination against employees on the basis of their political views and other protected characteristics.” They’re looking for people with similar experiences to Damore’s, for “fact-gathering” and also, if enough people come forward, to build some sort of class-action suit against Google. A post on Dhillon’s website today seeks people who were “written up for ‘un-Googly conduct,’ defamed/slandered/smeared/blacklisted at Google for your political views, or views about affirmative action at Google,” and “punished for blowing the whistle on illegal employment practices.” Damore was fired, as per an email sent to Google staff by CEO Sundar Pichai, for “advancing harmful gender stereotypes in our workplace” and “perpetuating gender stereotypes,” behavior that violated the company’s code of conduct.
