Google Fires Author of Misogynistic Internal Memo

After penning an internal memo that suggested women just weren’t suited for technical jobs because of biological difference, Google software engineer, James Damore, has been let go to pursue his highly scientific gender studies elsewhere, according to the NYT. The memo—suggestively titled, “Google’s Ideological Echo Chamber; was written as a condemnation of Google’s diversity efforts. Again, because apparently that bucks up against “science” that suggests women can handle high-stress situations because of their innate “neuroticism.” Obviously.

This evidently put Google in a somewhat tricky position, as they’ve routinely encouraged employees to question company practices—including mocking bosses in internal forums—but the company is also striving to respond to criticisms that they’re not doing enough to provide opportunities for minorities and women. Despite those conflicting conditions, Google swiftly decided to fire Darmore.

Google’s chief executive, Sundar Pichai, sent out an email condemning the memo asserting that:

The memo has clearly impacted our co-workers, some of whom are hurting and feel judged based on their gender. Our co-workers shouldn’t have to worry that each time they open their mouths to speak in a meeting, they have to prove that they are not like the memo states, being ‘agreeable’ rather than ‘assertive,’ showing a ‘lower stress tolerance,’ or being ‘neurotic.’

Unsurprisingly, Darmore is simply aghast at the firing and is threatening to sue claiming, “I have a legal right to express my concerns about the terms and conditions of my working environment and to bring up potentially illegal behavior, which is what my document does.”