Tech workers group decries Google for retaliatory firing of four employees

Source: Xinhua | 2019-11-27

An alliance of tech workers rallied on Monday to show their support for four employees fired by Google for what the U.S. tech company described as violating the company's data security policies.

The Tech Workers Coalition, composed of employees from tech companies including Google, also urged other firms to send job offers to the former Google employees.

Google confirmed Monday that it had sacked the four employees for accessing their peers' calendars and sharing sensitive information with outside sources.

In a memo sent to all Google employees, three representatives from the company's security and investigations team said an investigation found the fired workers were engaged in wrongdoings, including alleged systematic searching of other employees' data and work information.

The firing came a few days after a number of Google workers staged a protest outside the company's San Francisco office last week, demanding it reinstate two employees put on administrative leave for allegedly sharing internal documents.

Rebecca Rivers, one of the two employees placed on leave, who was also among the protesters in San Francisco, tweeted earlier on Monday that she had since been fired by Google.

The San Francisco-based Tech Workers Coalition threw its weight behind Rivers and her colleagues.

"When workers stand together, we are stronger than any billionaire," it said in a tweet.

The coalition also echoed support for workers who challenged Google's decision to fire their colleagues, calling it "an excuse to retaliate against organizers."

"For every one they retaliate against, there are hundreds of us who will fight, and together we will win," Google workers said in a statement.