National Labor Relations Board rejected Damore’s claim that Google fired him unjustly

A federal body overseeing labor disputes advised the dismissal of Jeremy Damore’s claim that Google fired him unjustly for his controversial memo regarding inclusion and diversity programs at the company. Citing similar precedents, the National Labor Relations Board counsel deemed parts of the memo “so harmful, discriminatory, and disruptive” as to shed their status as protected speech in the workplace.

The NLRB memo, issued on January 16 and published publicly yesterday, does not constitute an official ruling or legal action. It is, however, the official advice of a federal lawyer who specializes in this field, and its conclusion, that the complaint be dismissed, would likely have been followed by the regional board being advised. Instead, Damore withdrew the complaint.

In her handling of the complaint, Jayme Sophir (associate general counsel of the NLRB’s Division of Advice) examined the public documents relating to the case — viz. the memo itself and the post by CEO Sundar Pichai, among other things — and internal ones, such as posts to employee forums and emails sent to and from Damore and others.

Sophir found that Damore’s memo contained a great deal of protected speech, as he clearly seems deeply concerned with company policies that he thinks discriminatory. His opinions on those programs and advice for Google regarding them are certainly protected, she found, and a document prepared by an HR manager ahead of speaking to Damore (not an email to him as I previously had put here) emphasizes this (brackets NLRB’s):

Source :- techcrunch