the societal dangers of an emerging branch of
artificial intelligence.
At the time, Gebru posted on Twitter that
she was fired but Google told employees she
resigned. More than 1,200 Google employees
signed on to an open letter calling the incident
“unprecedented research censorship” and faulting
the company for racism and defensiveness.
Curley’s lawsuit claims the company viewed
Black job candidates “through harmful racial
stereotypes” and claimed that hiring managers
deemed Black candidates “not ‘Googly’ enough,
a plain dog whistle for race discrimination.”
In addition, according to the suit, interviewers
“hazed” and undermined Black candidates and
hired Black candidates into lower-paying and
lower-level roles with less advancement potential
based on their race and racial stereotypes.
Curley and others, according to the suit, were
often “pigeon-holed into dead-end jobs.”
The lawsuit states that Google, which hired
Curley specifically to recruit Black candidates
for the company, wanted her to “quietly put
on a good face for the company and toe the
company line.” Instead, according to the suit,
she was a champion for Black employees and
Black students who “vocally opposed and
called for reform of the barriers and double
standards Google imposed on Black employees
and applicants.”
In response, the complaint says, Google
“unlawfully marginalized, undermined, and
ultimately terminated” Curley.