Google Walk Out Leader Walks Out
June 26, 2019
Is diversity possible at Google?
Not too long ago, Claire Stapleton led a series of walkouts at Google related to policies that are sexist towards female employees. Since Stapleton staged the walkouts, she claimed she faced a growing amount of hostility at her job. The Inquirer investigates more in the article, “Googler Who Lead Mass Walkout Leaves The Company Due To ‘Manager Hostility.’”
Stapleton was a YouTube marketing manager and had worked at Google for twelve years. Ever since she took a stand against Google’s sexist policies, Stapleton said that Google has become more hostile toward her. She specifically used the term “scarlet letter” in reference to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book of the same name about a woman who bore a child out of wedlock. The scarlet letter term is ironic, because of that connotation. Stapleton decided to leave to escape from the stress and shame. She also is pregnant and did not want the stress to harm her unborn child.
Google said something different:
“We thank Claire for her work at Google and wish her all the best. To reiterate, we don’t tolerate retaliation. Our employee relations team did a thorough investigation of her claims and found no evidence of retaliation. They found that Claire’s management team supported her contributions to our workplace, including awarding her their team Culture Award for her role in the walkout.”
Google’s response is the standard, inoffensive HR copy. It is impressive that Stapleton’s management team awarded her the Culture Award. Even if Google praised her efforts, the company could still ostracize her. It could have been Google’s entire plan to place undue stress on Stapleton, until she could not handle the pressure anymore and needed to leave for her sanity. This is a nasty business tactic and it is not new, but it is a shame that it is still being used. Stapleton may continue to push for equality and diversity. She was good enough to get hired, but not good enough to stay: Is that a fair assessment?
Whitney Grace, June 26, 2019
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