Google has done it again, firing another high-profile Black woman — only this time the very woman it hired to increase Black recruitment.
April Curley has filed a lawsuit claiming Google hired her specifically to help boost Black recruitment. Despite that goal, the lawsuit alleged Google fired Curley for fighting against a “racially biased corporate culture,” according to The Mercury News. Curley accuses Google of not paying Black employees as much as their White counterparts, as well as limiting their opportunities, and creating a hostile work environment.
“Google’s centralized leadership, which is nearly devoid of Black representation, holds biased and stereotypical views about the abilities and potential of Black professionals,” the suit alleges. “As a result, and pursuant to company-wide discriminatory policies and practices, Google hires few Black employees and steers those few Black employees into lower-level roles, pays them less, and denies them advancement and leadership roles because of their race. Black Google employees face a hostile work environment and suffer retaliation if they dare to challenge or oppose the company’s discriminatory practices.”
Despite being hired away from non-profit Teach for America in 2014, Curley found herself increasingly limited in the role she was supposedly hired to perform. As The Mercury News points out, Black employees only comprise 3% of the company’s leadership, despite making up 9.1% of the internet and web-search industry at large.
Curley allegedly experienced restrictions on her pay potential, being denied a level increase when her sole Black supervisor recommended her for one.
The company “falsely claimed it lacked the budget to adjust her pay,” according to the lawsuit. “Curley later learned that a high-level White manager had blocked her pay and level increase. Although that manager worked on the same floor as Curley and the two enjoyed a cordial relationship, she admitted to Curley that she considered her ‘intimidating,’ ‘unwelcoming,’ and — a stereotype Black women in America are all too familiar with — ‘angry.’”
Google has stumbled from one HR disaster to another, largely over how it treats employees of color, and especially women. The company fired Dr. Timnit Gebru, all the while claiming she had resigned. Interestingly, CEO Sundar Pichai drew criticism for portraying Dr. Gebru as an “angry Black woman” in his response to her firing, drawing parallels to Curley’s claims.
In addition, the company eventually fired Dr. Gebru’s team co-lead, Margaret Mitchell, after her outspoken support for her colleague. The company has faced significant backlash, including engineers resigning, others refusing the company’s funding, and a prominent AI ethics conference suspending its sponsorship, as well as a class-action lawsuit over gender bias and pay discrimination.
Google execs seem to know they have a problem, taking steps that, at least on the surface, seem to be aimed at painting a better picture of itself. The company appointed Dr. Marian Croak, a Black woman, to lead the team Dr. Gebru once led.
Curley is seeking class-action status on her lawsuit. Given Google’s recent troubles, it’s not a reach to believe a judge may well grant the request, opening Google up to yet another reckoning with its HR practices.