A Google Security Official is accused of making fun of a gay Google employee
A Google Security Official is accused of making fun of a gay Google employee
According to a lawsuit filed this week by a gay, Black employee against Google, a senior manager on the company's global security team crudely joked about a company security guard in text messages, part of a pattern of workplace harassment against the employee who is gay and Black.
He is seeking unspecified monetary damages for alleged physical and emotional harassment at Google's Los Angeles offices on the basis of his sexual orientation and race, which the lawsuit claims occurred between 2014 and last year. Brown is jointly employed by the Alphabet unit as well as security company Allied Universal, according to the lawsuit.
Requests for comment from Google and Allied Universal did not receive a response immediately.
Following social protests calling attention to racism, many major corporations, including Google, increased their efforts to create more inclusive workplaces in the past year. Some Google employees, including more than 2,000 who signed an open letter on the subject in April, have expressed concern that the company does not do enough to hold perpetrators accountable for their actions.
According to the lawsuit, Brown's supervisor was responsible for much of the alleged problematic behavior, which included "grabbing him by the buttocks, kicking him in the groin, throwing him through a window head first, and brutally grabbing his nipples." The lawsuit was filed in state court in Los Angeles.
According to the filing, the supervisor, Henry Linares, was fired for a variety of reasons earlier this year. According to his LinkedIn profile, he resigned from Google and Allied Universal in July. He did not respond to a request for comment when reached for comment.
Rus Rossini, Google's senior manager for global community operations, is accused of "participating in the discrimination and sexual harassment and failing to take corrective action," according to the suit.
According to the lawsuit and a screenshot of the exchange obtained by Reuters, Rossini messaged the supervisor last year about items missing from Google's offices, which were closed due to the pandemic. "Strip searches for all," Rossini wrote.
Following the supervisor's response, "David is going to love that," Rossini responded, "Tell David to bend over." The supervisor agreed. Brown received a response from his supervisor, who said, "hahah I'll tell him you said Hellooo," in response to the screenshot.
In response to a request for comment, Rossini did not immediately respond. The information on his LinkedIn profile indicates he is still working for Google.
The abuse should have been addressed, according to Brown's attorney, V. James DeSimone, especially after Brown "turned those screenshots over to human resources, implicating Rossini in the harassment." DeSimone said Rossini should have addressed the abuse.
