A former Google employee filed a lawsuit against the tech giant on Friday, accusing the company of racial bias. The plaintiff, April Curley, said Google leads Black employees to lower-level jobs, pays them less and denies them opportunities to advance.

According to NBC News, Curley filed the lawsuit in a federal court in San Jose, saying Google maintains a “racially biased corporate culture” that favors white men. The plaintiff said Google hired her in 2014 to design an outreach program to historically Black colleges, but the hiring proved to be a “marketing ploy.” According to Curley, supervisors stereotyped her as an “angry” Black woman and passed her over for promotions.

The company, according to the lawsuit, fired Curley in 2020 after she joined her colleagues to create a list of the reforms they want to see.

“While Google claims that they were looking to increase diversity, they were actually undervaluing, underpaying and mistreating their Black employees,” Curley’s lawyer Ben Crump said in a statement.

According to the complaint, only 1.9% of Google employees identified as Black or African American when Curley was hired in 2014. The search engine company added five white top-level executives over the next two years, but the number of Black employees still remained low, the complaint states.

Google is also accused of discriminating against Black professionals and visitors at its main California campus headquarters, Insider reports. The company’s security guards profiled Black personnel, often asking them to show identification, the lawsuit states.

Curley is seeking to recoup compensatory and punitive damages, as well as lost compensation for current and former Black employees at Google. The plaintiff is also seeking restoration for current and former Black employees to their appropriate positions and seniority.

April Curley

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