Ex-Google engineer sues company after firing over stereotypes memo

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SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – The former Google engineer fired in August after he wrote a memo that the company said perpetuated gender stereotypes sued his former employer on Monday, saying he was the victim of workplace discrimination and retaliation.

James Damore and another former Google engineer, David Gudeman, filed the lawsuit as a proposed class action in Santa Clara County Superior Court in California.

Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.

The company has failed to protect employees from workplace harassment related to their support of U.S. President Donald Trump or conservative political views, according to the lawsuit.

Damore caused an uproar in Silicon Valley last year when he wrote an internal memo, which later became public, asserting that “biological causes” are behind gender inequality in the tech industry.

Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai said when Damore was fired that portions of the memo “violate our Code of Conduct and cross the line by advancing harmful gender stereotypes in our workplace.”