A man who worked at Google as a product manager in its Nest division is now suing the company over what he and his lawyer say as an internal “Spying program”.
OMG! Google Has Internal “Spying Program”
One of Google’s product manager in its Nest division whose name is John Doe (in the paperwork) is now suing the company over what he and his lawyer say as an internal “Spying program”. The employee says that internal policies and confidentiality agreements support Google employees to reach colleagues who they doubt of leaking information to the media.
The lawsuit also claimed that Google restricts employees from writing a novel about how is their experience while working at a Silicon Valley tech company without the permission of Google. The lawsuit was first reported by the tech news site The Information.
According to the tech news site The Information, Google has set up a special website where employees can report each other. Moreover, Google also warned employees not to share the complaints about any illegal activity that might be happening at Google to dodge law enforcement.
The lawsuit also claims that Google used to threat the employees to fire anyone who leaks information to the media. One of the Google’s spokespeople called the lawsuit “baseless” in an email statement to Mashable, Google wrote to Mashable “We will defend this suit vigorously because it’s baseless. We’re very committed to an open internal culture, which means we frequently share with employees details of product launches and confidential business information. Transparency is a huge part of our culture.”
“Our employee confidentiality requirements are designed to protect proprietary business information, while not preventing employees from disclosing information about terms and conditions of employment, or workplace concerns.”
John Doe has now taken his legal fight beyond a mere complaint filed a lawsuit under California’s Private Attorneys General Act, this act allows employees to sue on behalf of fellow employees. If the judge finds Google guilty then they company might have to pay up to $3.8 billion.
