Google is currently facing another lawsuit from one of its employees. The complaint filed in California Superior Court in San Francisco alleged the tech company of violating California labor laws. The plaintiff only named as John Doe accused Google of having “illegal confidentiality policies”.
The Information first reported that a Google product manager claims that the company has an “internal spying program”. Apparently, the said program encourages employees to report those who are leaking information. In fact, the plaintiff chose to remain anonymous since “Brian Katz, Google’s Director of Global Investigations, Intelligence & Protective Services, falsely informed approximately 65,000 Googlers” that he was terminated for supposedly leaking certain information to the press.
John Doe denied the accusation and insisted that Katz actually knew that he was innocent. He added that he was used by Google as a “very public scapegoat." The company wanted other Google employees to see the consequences if they do not comply with its confidentiality policies. The lawsuit reads, “Google’s motto is ‘don’t be evil’. Google’s illegal confidentiality agreements, policies, and practices fail this test.”
Among the things that the Google’s policies prohibit include talking about “illegal conduct or dangerous product defects” and sharing information with a potential employer such as “how much salary they make and what work they performed” when they look for a new job. This means that they can’t simply disclose “all of the skills, knowledge, acquaintances and overall experience at Google” as they work for their new employer. Furthermore, they were also prevented from “speaking to the government, attorneys, or the press about wrongdoing at Google”.
Their personal lives are also affected. They are prohibited from telling their “spouse or friends about whether they think their boss could do a better job”. The Verge also reported that another policy keeps the employees from writing a novel about working for a large Silicon Valley corporation. They need to get a final draft approval from Google before they are allowed to do that. Google might pay a fine of as much as $3.8 billion. That is if Google is indeed found to be violating California labor law.
This is only one of Google’s other serious concerns. The families of the three Orlando shooting victims have recently sued Google, Facebook, and Twitter. According to the Christian Science Monitor, the social media platforms were accused of violating US anti-terrorism law. Apparently, they did not do enough to halt Islamic terrorists from recruiting on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.
