Google ‘bro culture’ led to violence, sexual harassment against female engineer, lawsuit alleges

As a young, female software engineer at male-dominated Google, Loretta Lee was slapped, groped and even had a co-worker pop up from beneath her desk one night, according to a lawsuit filed against the Mountain View tech giant.

The lawsuit comes as Silicon Valley’s tech industry, dominated by white men, has been roiled by a series of sexual-misconduct scandals and gender-related upheavals as the MeToo movement against sexual assault of women has prompted a nationwide cultural reckoning.

Google has been the focus of considerable gender-related controversy. It fired engineer James Damore over his memo claiming a biological basis for the gender gap in tech. It sacked a transgender man who then sued the firm, claiming he was ousted for opposing workplace bigotry. And lawsuits by the U.S. Department of Labour and a former Googler have accused the company of paying women less than men.

Now, Lee’s lawsuit alleges the company failed to to protect her, saying, “Google’s bro-culture contributed to (Lee’s) suffering frequent sexual harassment and gender discrimination, for which Google failed to take corrective action.” She was fired in February 2016 for poor performance, according to the suit.

Google said that it has “strong policies against harassment in the workplace” and reviews every complaint it receives. “We take action when we find violations, including termination of employment,” a company spokesperson said.

Lee claims the “severe and pervasive” sexual harassment she experienced included daily abuse and egregious incidents. In addition to lewd comments-and ogling her “constantly,” Lee’s co-workers spiked her drinks with whiskey; and shot Nerf balls at her “almost every day,” the suit alleges. One male colleague sent her a text asking if she wanted a “horizontal hug,” while another showed up at her apartment with liquor, offering to help her fix a problem with one of her devices, refusing to leave when she asked him to, she alleges.

At a party, Lee “was slapped in the face by an intoxicated male co-worker for no apparent reason,” according to the suit.

In January 2016, while working late one night, she was approaching her work space when she saw a male colleague whom she had never spoken with “on all fours, underneath her desk,” she claims. When he saw her, the man “jumped up and shouted, ‘You’ll never know what I was doing!’ ” according to the suit. The next day, a co-worker grabbed the name badge hanging from her neck, grazing her breasts, she claims.

She reported the man, but HR found her claims “unsubstantiated,” according to the suit.

Her fear of being ostracized was realized, she claims, with co-workers refusing to approve her code in spite of her diligent work on it. Not getting approved led to her being “labelled as a ‘poor performer,’ ” the suit says.

Lee is seeking unspecified damages in excess of $25,000 for harassment, gender discrimination, failure to prevent sexual harassment, wrongful termination and retaliation.