Revenge of the Damore

Damore is back! And he's packing a mean wallop.

By "Damore", I mean, of course, James Damore, the software engineer formerly from Google, who, back last year, released a manifesto titled "Google's Ideological Echo Chamber". When this internal memo was leaked to the public, the predictable outcry from the "woke" and liberal crowd resulted in him being fired.

As mentioned in my last blogpost regarding this incident, my sympathies aren't with Damore. While I did not consider him guilty of what that rabid crowd accused him of, the sheer naivete in his writing and circulating of that (not even particularly insightful or well-written) manifesto deserved a harsh lesson. That lesson being; primarily, no matter how much your employers insist that they value honest and genuine feedback, no they really fucking don't. And, for quick and easy damage control, you can expect yourself to be handily thrown under the bus.

That was last August, and five months later, Damore is back with a proposed class-action lawsuit  against Google for discriminating against employees who hold politically Conservative views. Among his claims are that white men are being punished for, well, being white men.

"Google employees who expressed views deviating from the majority view at Google on political subjects raised in the workplace and relevant to Google's employment policies and its business, such as 'diversity' hiring policies, 'bias sensitivity,' or 'social justice' were/are singled out, mistreated, and systematically punished and terminated from Google, in violation of their legal rights."

There are also allegations of wrongful termination with regard to James Damore.

Hold on... "wrongful termination"?

As much as I think Google made themselves look utterly foolish with the reasons they gave for Damore's firing, "wrongful termination" is pushing it a little. Damore deserved to be canned, no doubt. As an employee, you are not guaranteed a right to absolute free speech on company time, and anyone who thinks otherwise is severely delusional.

Of course, it would have been even fairer if the miscreants who leaked his internal manifesto to the public (and thus forced Google's hand) were similarly dealt with, but one can't have everything.

Does James Damore stand any chance of winning?

I doubt that. But maybe this lawsuit isn't meant to be won.

Look at the evidence presented so far. Screenshots of discussions and whatnot. Many of them showcasing the shit people say when they think their vitriol isn't going to be made public. The sheer vindictiveness on display intertwined with their moral outrage. Vows to make life miserable for those with Conservative views. There's an entire cesspit of posturing, bullying militance in there, and it makes for depressing reading.

Just an example of the shit
Googlers post.

All of that is a huge embarrassment to Google. And if this particular humiliation was what James Damore was going for, then to hell with the lawsuit. Win or lose, the damage is done.

Google is under investigation for underpaying female staff. Now they're on trial for discriminating against white men. Which is it? It unlikely to be both - it's got to be one or the other. And it probably will be one or the other.

Well played, James. Well played.

Is Google really that much of a nightmare to work in? If those screenshots are anything to go by, it would appear so. I have no doubt that the Googlers are talented... but Christ on a stick, what a bunch of children they are. 

The Moral of the story

Damore-al of the story, geddit? (Hur hur)

Damore originally got into trouble because the manifesto got leaked to the public by Googlers. Now he's leaking screenshots of internal discussions by the legal process. Not saying I approve, but I guess the Googlers have it coming. Two can play at that game, right? And, let's face it, ammunition against Damore is limited. But he's got shit on all the people participating in those discussions. Whether or not the Googlers are sensible enough to realize that they come off as a bunch of utterly unprofessional, foot-stamping snowflakes, is besides the point. They, collectively, are a far bigger target than one James Damore.

Besides, it's not like James Damore has anything to lose at this point. Not after getting fired so publicly by Google.

Someone at Google said they "look forward to defending against Mr. Damore's lawsuit in court". Holy shit, so do I. This should be interesting.

Stay tuned for more news. Damore da merrier!
T___T