Law Firm Representing Fired Google Engineer Seeks Others For Discrimination Suit

A law firm that is representing former Google engineer James Damore is looking for staffers at the search giant who’ve experienced “illegal employment practices” in a move that could lay the groundwork for a lawsuit.

In a release, Dhillion Law Group said it is looking for employees who’ve felt they experienced discrimination over their political views or retaliation for labor law violations at Google.

Specifically, the firm is seeking employees who’ve been:

• Discriminated against at Google based on your political views;

• Been written up for “un-Googly conduct” for refusing to comply with the political orthodoxy at the company;

• Retaliated against for complaining about employment discrimination at Google;

• Defamed/slandered/smeared/blacklisted at Google for your political views, or views about affirmative action at Google; or

• Punished for blowing the whistle on illegal employment practices at Google?

Damore was fired from Google earlier this month due to a widely circulated internal memo arguing that female technical employees were less suited for more demanding roles because of physical biological differences. The former Google staffer’s dismissal sent waves throughout Silicon Valley over, in part, Damore’s assertions on conservative vin iewpoints and gender gaps within the memo. In a blog post, CEO Sundar Pichai defended the right for differences in political opinion within Google but argued that Damore’s memo crossed an internal line.

Since his firing, Damore has mainly focused on media interviews and coverage throughout various mainstream and conservative outlets, but the former Google engineer has also repeatedly maintained that he plans to sue the search company. As the Mercury News noted, Damore’s representation is led by California Republican National Committee committeewoman Harmeet Dhillon. She previously provided representation to the University of California Berkley’s College Republicans earlier this year over the group’s push to bring pundit Ann Coulter onto campus.

Damore has yet to file a formal lawsuit against Google — he’s only submitted a complaint against the company with the National Labor Relation Board — but a potential case would be a difficult gamble for the former employee. In California, which is an “at-will” state, companies have considerable leeway for dismissing employees and Google had previously argued that Damore had violated its internal conduct code for employees.

However, Damore has one legal avenue to potentially get his case into court. As International Business Times previously reported, legal observers have pointed out that it’s illegal for a company to retaliate against employees who engage in workplace advocacy.

While this has traditionally been limited to direct acts of advocacy like union organization, the courts have begun to broaden this definition in recent years, making it possible that Damore’s potential case could make it in front of a judge. In a Reddit Ask Me Anything session, Damore said he’s been advised to “not talk too much about my legal case,” but feels confident about his odds of winning against Google.

If Damore ends up filing a formal class action suit against Google, he’d likely find some supporters among its employees. Dhillon Law Group and Damore both implied that they’d been in contact or were aware of current employees at Google who supported the memo and Wired previously reported that internal Google memo boards had a number of employees who defended Damore.