Google Employees: Our Executives Engaged in Abuse. Don’t Let Kink and Polyamory Be Their Scapegoats.
A New York Times report exacerbated stigma while bringing wrongdoing to light
For years, vulnerable people in Silicon Valley have whispered warnings to each other about the unethical behavior of multiple Alphabet executives who sexually harassed individuals they held power over in the workplace. On October 25, two New York Times reporters released their yearlong investigation, and the scandal burst into the open. Andy Rubin, founder of Android, and Amit Singhal, head of Google Search, were paid off to leave the company in 2014 and 2016, respectively, but Richard DeVaul, inventor of Project Loon, didn’t resign until shortly after the article’s release. David Drummond is still Alphabet’s chief legal officer. A week later, 20,000 employees walked off the job to protest Alphabet’s systematic mishandling of harassment and discrimination. Why did it take so many years for even a modicum of accountability to happen?
To be clear, these newly documented abuses are not merely the aftermath of a few bad apples. There is a systematic pattern of influential figures in entertainment, media, government, and business using their positions to coerce and silence those with less power, especially women and nonbinary…
