Kerby Anderson

In many of my commentaries I have talked about how some college campuses have been a center of intolerance. Many have even been repressive with speech codes and student protests inside the classroom and on the campus. There is mounting evidence some corporate cultures have become at least as intolerant, perhaps even more so, as college campuses. We now have abundant evidence of that in Google because of a class-action lawsuit filed by former Google employee James Damore. You may remember he was the person who wrote a lengthy memorandum and was subsequently fired for asking some important questions about why more men than women work in the high-tech field. He has filed a 181-page complaint that includes screen shots of Google communications along with various postings on Google message boards. You don’t need to read his court filing. You can merely go to various articles that provide ample examples. Rachel Stoltzfoos provides “19 Insane Tidbits From James Damore’s Lawsuit About Google’s Office Environment.” David French writes about “James Damore’s Lawsuit Exposes Google’s Culture of Ignorant Intolerance.” French concludes that the screenshots “constitute strong evidence of hostile-environment race-and-gender harassment if the races and genders were reversed.” Conservatives face a blacklist and are often blocked from in-house communication. Googlers (as they are called) boo white-male hires and “openly discuss committing acts of violence against political opponents.” By the way, watch yourself if someone calls you a Nazi. “The ‘punch a Nazi’ debate is alive and well at Google, and the definition of ‘Nazi’ is extraordinarily broad.” Of course, we have only heard Damore’s side of the story. But the screenshots make it difficult to deny what is happening within the walls of Google. And if you think this is an isolated example, you haven’t been talking to people in corporate America.