Being employed by a company means more than just representing the company and completing the work task assigned. An employee is a person afforded rights in the work environment, meaning that employers must treat each of them a certain way. This also means that employees have an expectation that they will be safe from certain events or treatment, such as discrimination, harassment and wrongful termination.
Current reports suggest that Google has a high attrition rate for employees that are black and Hispanic. The company recently released its annual diversity report, and for the first time in the company’s history, data based on employee attrition was included as a means to gauge retention of certain employee cohorts. This report suggests that Google has a difficult time retaining black employees.
Because of these results, a shareholder meeting was called. It was proposed that the company would link executive pay to diversity and inclusion metrics; however, this was turned down. It was then called out that there was a need to boost the safety and wellbeing of minority employees.
Because former employees of Google have sued the company for discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination and the failure to prevent discrimination and harassment, questions of employer’s treatment, inclusion and safety are at hand. It was also claimed that the company’s internal social networking and messaging system has evidence of belittling and bullying women, people of color and LGBTQ employees.
When an employee believes that they are being discriminated against in the workplace, it is important for them to understand what rights and options one might have. This could mean filing a legal action to not only hold an employer accountable for this wrongdoing but also seek a monetary award for damages suffered.
