James Damore

In December 2018, Damore's claims were referred to arbitration and the court action was stayed in relation to him. In May 2020, Damore, Google and the other parties announced that they had reached a settlement ending the case; all Damore's claims were dismissed with prejudice.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Protagonist is the complainant

Damore filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board following his dismissal. An opinion from the General Counsel's office found that certain parts of his memo concerning working conditions might be protected, but that his disparaging statements about women and disruptive conduct could lawfully justify dismissal. Damore withdrew his complaint before a contested Board decision.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Protagonist is the complainant

Damore and David Gudeman brought an action before the Santa Clara Superior Court against Google, alleging discrimination based on political opinions, male sex and white race, as well as a hostile environment for conservative employees.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Protagonist is the complainant

Following the publicity surrounding the Google memo, WIRED noted that Damore's LinkedIn profile described him as “PhD, Systems Biology”, while Harvard stated that he had left the programme with a master's degree. The profile was subsequently amended.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Damore circulated an internal memo of approximately 3,000 words criticising Google's diversity policies, denouncing ideological bias and arguing that average biological differences between the sexes could contribute to women's under-representation in certain technical occupations. Its public circulation sparked a worldwide debate about diversity, freedom of expression and workplace stereotypes.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Google dismissed Damore following circulation of the memo. Chief executive Sundar Pichai stated that parts of it crossed a line by advancing harmful gender stereotypes in the workplace.

State of the evidence

Documented

During his time in Harvard's systems biology programme, Damore participated in a sketch containing sexual jokes, particularly around the phrase “Microtubule Jerking”. Students found it embarrassing or inappropriate, and programme officials apologised to the group.

Attribution

Personally implicated