Fired Google Engineer: Tech Company Is ‘Like a Cult’

August 12, 2017, 3:28 PM UTC
Google Chief Economist Hal Varian Speaks To The Media
BERLIN, GERMANY - AUGUST 21: The Google logo is seen at the company's offices on August 21, 2014 in Berlin, Germany. Google reported last month nearly $16 billion in earnings in its second-quarter, a 22% increase from a year earlier, though spending on driverless cars, Google Glass Internet-connected eyewear and hiring more employees brought earnings for the quarter down below expectations. (Photo by Adam Berry/Getty Images)
Adam Berry Getty Images

The Google engineer who was fired after his critique of the company’s diversity policy was made public compared his former workplace to a “cult.”

James Damore was fired after his 10-page document, which expressed that women were inferior to men when it comes to writing software, was made public. In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, “Why I Was Fired by Google,” Damore said that Google is “a particularly intense echo chamber because it is in the middle of Silicon Valley and is so life-encompassing as a place to work.”

“Some even live on campus. For many, including myself, working at Google is a major part of their identity, almost like a cult with its own leaders and saints, all believed to righteously uphold the sacred motto of ‘Don’t be evil,'” the op-ed read.

Damore argued that this created an environment where only certain opinions could be voiced. Damore added that his firing “neatly confirms that point.”

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