- Title: PERSONAL: Fired from Google, engineer hopes protest inspires others to speak out
- Date: 19th April 2024
- Summary: OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (APRIL 18, 2024) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) RAY WESTRICK, SOFTWARE ENGINEER IN COUNTER ABUSE WHO WAS FIRED FROM GOOGLE AFTER PROTEST, SAYING: “Yeah, it was, it was pretty intense. There were, there are a lot of cops that came in. They told us we had to leave, handcuffed us, took us to jail.” SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (APRIL 16, 2024) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS SIGN THAT READS "GOOGLERS AGAINST GENOCIDE" PROJECT NIMBUS PROTEST SIGN VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS CHANTING OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (APRIL 18, 2024) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) RAY WESTRICK, SOFTWARE ENGINEER IN COUNTER ABUSE WHO WAS FIRED FROM GOOGLE AFTER PROTEST, SAYING: “Yeah, I was placed on administrative leave while I was in his office. And then I found out I was fired the next day in, what seemed like a really, you know, like mass like widespread retaliation sort of like action by the company. It was more than just the people that were in the sit in. It was, you know, sort of just like a mass firing of people who, you know, were doing things that were very, very, protected, like actions and, you know, engaging, you know, with concerns in good faith. It was a really shocking, like widespread, like mass firing. So, yeah, it was really shocking to see that.” VARIOUS OF WESTRICK SEATED AT PICNIC TABLE ON PHONE (SOUNDBITE) (English) RAY WESTRICK, SOFTWARE ENGINEER IN COUNTER ABUSE WHO WAS FIRED FROM GOOGLE AFTER PROTEST, SAYING: “I've received so many like kind messages from people I've never even met saying like, I was scared to do something before, but like, seeing you all really inspired me. And I want to do things now. And I think it's incredible that, you know, seeing such a clear act of retaliation actually motivates people to do more, to be more brave. And I think it's like really inspiring for me. And yeah, I think people will continue to speak out about this. And I think, yeah, I think hopefully leadership sees that and sees that this is not something that their employees or the public or anyone wants them to be engaged in.” SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (APRIL 16, 2024) (REUTERS) MORE VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS
- Embargoed: 3rd May 2024 02:49
- Keywords: Gaza war Google Google Cloud Google workers fired for protest Israel Palestinians Project Nimbus fired Google worker
- Location: OAKLAND + SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
- City: OAKLAND + SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
- Country: US
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,North America
- Reuters ID: LVA003632118042024RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:A day after being fired from Google for participating in a protest against the company's cloud contract with the Israeli government, a software engineer hopes that her actions will inspire others to continue speaking out.
Ray Westrick, 25, worked for Google for 2.5 years as a software engineer in counter abuse.
She said she and others within the company felt compelled to make their voices heard about Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion contract awarded to Google and Amazon.com in 2021 to supply the Israeli government with cloud services. Protesters say the project supports the development of military tools by the Israeli government.
Westrick was outside the Google Cloud offices in Sunnyvale on Tuesday (April 16) for a protest before she and others entered one of the buildings and made their way to Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian’s office.
It was there she says they remained peacefully for 10 hours until police came and removed them.
During that time, Westrick says she received notice of being put on administrative leave. The next day she says she was fired.
“It was a really shocking, like widespread, like mass firing. So, yeah, it was really shocking to see that,” she said on Thursday (April 18).
Westrick was among 28 employees terminated by Google.
The Alphabet unit said a small number of protesting employees entered and disrupted work at a few unspecified office locations.
"Physically impeding other employees' work and preventing them from accessing our facilities is a clear violation of our policies, and completely unacceptable behavior," the company said in a statement.
Google said it had concluded individual investigations, resulting in the termination of 28 employees, and would continue to investigate and take action as needed.
In a statement on Medium, Google workers affiliated with the No Tech for Apartheid campaign called it a "flagrant act of retaliation" and said that some employees who did not directly participate in Tuesday's protests were also among those Google fired.
"Google workers have the right to peacefully protest about terms and conditions of our labor," the statement added.
Westrick says she’s received an outpouring of support from people she’s never met and who also believe it was an act of retaliation.
“Hopefully leadership sees that and sees that this is not something that their employees or the public or anyone wants them to be engaged in,” she said.
In its statement, Google also maintained that the Nimbus contract "is not directed at highly sensitive, classified, or military workloads relevant to weapons or intelligence services."
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