Here's Why These Former Employees Are Suing Google

Three former Google employees are suing the tech giant over claims that they endured mistreatment that contradicts the company’s “don’t be evil” proverb.

Rebecca Rivers, Paul Duke, and Sophie Waldman say that Google fired them for protesting the company's choice to sell software to Customs and Border Protection, an agreement signed with the Trump administration in 2019.

The lawsuit states that “Rivers, Waldman and Duke each engaged in activities consistent with Google’s ‘Don’t be evil’ contractual obligation.”

Google said that the three had each leaked information, and had used "systematic searches" for information "outside the scope of their job."

The software engineers say Google disregarded their code of conduct, and are requesting compensation for enduring “significant damage to reputation and ability to be gainfully re-employed.”

Last year, the U.S. National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint against Google and its parent company Alphabet over accusations of breaking labor laws, claiming they were “interfering with, restraining, and coercing employees in the exercise of their rights guaranteed in Section 7 of the Act.”