Google is known for having one of the most
outspoken workforces in tech. Employees
have pushed back on issues ranging from the
company’s handling of sexual misconduct
allegations to its contracts with federal agencies.
But lately, some workers say, the company has
been losing patience with its traditionally open
culture and is cracking down on labor organizing.
Spiers wrote in a post published on Medium
that part of her job was to create browser
notifications to remind employees of company
policies. After The New York Times published
a report revealing that Google had hired a
consulting firm traditional known for being
anti-union, Spiers created a pop-up that told
employees they were allowed to participate in
“protected concerted activities.”
The notification showed up when employees
visited the consulting group’s website.
Google says Spiers was fired because she
“misused a security and privacy tool to create
a pop-up that was neither about security nor
privacy,” according to an email sent by vice
president Royal Hansen and provided by a
Google spokesperson.
Spiers did not have authorization for the
pop-up, Hansen wrote, and said that the
“decision would have been the same had the
pop-up message been on any other subject.”
Under a settlement Google reached with the
National Labor Relations Board in September,
the company agreed to post notices to remind
employees of their federal rights.
Spiers’ notification did just that, she wrote.