NY, NY: Google recently took action against 28 employees who participated in a 10-hour sit-in at the company’s offices in New York and Sunnyvale, California. The employees were protesting Google’s business connections with the Israeli government. The protest, led by pro-Palestinian staffers, involved occupying office spaces, defacing property, and disrupting the work of their colleagues. Google’s vice president of global security, Chris Rackow, confirmed the terminations in a companywide memo, citing the staffers’ behavior as unacceptable and threatening.
In addition to the protests in New York and California, demonstrations also extended to Google’s offices in Seattle under the banner of “No Tech for Genocide Day of Action.” The protesters demanded that Google withdraw from a $1.2 billion contract known as “Project Nimbus,” which provides cloud-computing and artificial intelligence services to the Israeli government and military. Critics raised concerns about how this technology could potentially be used against Palestinians in Gaza.
The fired employees were associated with a group called No Tech For Apartheid, which has been critical of Google’s response to the Israel-Hamas conflict. The group shared videos and livestreams of the protests, including the moment when employees received final warnings and were arrested for trespassing. The terminated employees criticized Google for prioritizing its contract with the Israeli government over the well-being of its workers.
The protests resulted in arrests in both New York and California, with a total of nine protesters being taken into custody for trespassing. Google’s actions were met with outcry from the terminated employees and their supporters. The company emphasized that the protesters violated its policies on conduct and workplace behavior, leading to their termination.
Google had previously fired a software engineer who criticized one of the company’s Israel-based executives during a tech conference in New York. The recent protests, part of a longstanding campaign by external groups and individuals, drew attention to Google’s business practices and its involvement in controversial contracts.
In response to the protests, Google took a firm stance on employee behavior, reiterating its commitment to enforcing company policies and maintaining a professional work environment. The terminated employees stormed the personal office of Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian in Sunnyvale, further escalating tensions between the company and its workforce. As Google continues to address internal and external concerns, the fallout from these protests highlights the complexities of navigating business relationships in a politically charged climate.