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| Ex-employees accuse Google of mistreatment |
When a judge considered a subpoena nearly a year ago in a case in which Google confronted its employees, the company's former employees once again highlighted the rising tensions between the two sides.
Three former Google employees filed a complaint accusing their former employer of firing them for protesting the cloud deal the company signed with the Trump administration's Customs and Border Services in 2019.
Rebecca Rivers, Sophie Waldman and Paul Duke claimed in their lawsuits that when they were hired at Google, they had to sign a contract that contained the company's slogan "Don't be mean."
The attorney general said the company had violated the agreement. They are asking for damages and other waivers to compensate for the pain they have suffered as a result of the severe damage to reputation and the possibility of refunds paid.
And Alphabet, Google's parent company, also has no reason to worry about financial problems - the company's balance sheet shows more than $140 billion in cash and cash equivalents, with a market value of about $1.9 trillion.
A series of employee strikes, internal disputes over the use of artificial intelligence in the company and complaints about dealing with employees have put this long-proud company under great pressure due to its open and integrative culture.
In December last year, the National Industrial Relations Commission filed a complaint against the company. The company is accused of illegal layoffs and monitoring of employees in retaliation for their efforts to form a union.
The trial has been suspended for the past two months while the judge has been reviewing subpoenas. We don't know when he will recover.
A company spokesperson made the following statement: As we noted in 2019, like most companies, we hired dozens of outside consultants and law firms to advise us on a variety of topics, including employer and employee engagement. Make suggestions. This includes IRI counselors for a short period of time. We do not agree with the ruling that visits many legally protected documents, and we are examining our options.
Google enters legal battle over labor law issues
This week, the judge in the National Industrial Relations Commission case, Paul Bogas, ordered the company to release more than 70 documents relating to communication with IRI Consulting, which it claimed was an industrial relations firm.
The National Labor Relations Commission said IRI consultants were part of Google's anti-union efforts. What legal documents show is that she named the project Vivian.
The judge published a 13-page response in which he said the company was misleading and trying to falsify the confidentiality of the documents.
In January of this year, Google employees jointly founded the Alphabet Workers Union, which now has more than 800 members. Although labor unions currently make up less than 1% of the company's total workforce. But this proves that he wants to take the initiative.
The union supports company workers hired by contractor Adecco. After the company abandoned a temporary bonus plan for data center employees, they won a battle with the company.