Former Google Exec Claims Company Ignored Human Rights Concerns, Promoted Toxic Workplace
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Google’s former Head of International Relations, Ross LaJeunesse, claimed the company ignored human rights concerns and facilitated a toxic workplace in an essay published on Thursday.
“The company’s motto used to be ‘Don’t be evil.’ Things have changed,” declared LaJeunesse — who is now running for Senate in Maine as a Democrat — before saying that he knew Google’s plans in China would make the company “complicit in human rights violations.”
“My solution was to advocate for the adoption of a company-wide, formal Human Rights Program that would publicly commit Google to adhere to human rights principles found in the UN Declaration of Human Rights,” he explained. “But each time I recommended a Human Rights Program, senior executives came up with an excuse to say no.”
After being “sidelined from the on-going conversations on whether to launch Dragonfly,” Google’s secret Chinese project which was accused of being a tool to help the Chinese government censor and persecute its citizens, LaJeunesse “then realized that the company had never intended to incorporate human rights principles into its business and product decisions.”
In the article, LaJeunesse also claimed, “Senior colleagues bullied and screamed at young women, causing them to cry at their desks,” and in one group exercise, segregated employees by race and sexuality.
“To me, no additional evidence was needed that ‘Don’t be evil’ was no longer a true reflection of the company’s values; it was now nothing more than just another corporate marketing tool,” he concluded.
LaJeunesse is not the first former Google employee to speak out against the company, with one ex-senior research scientists even writing a letter to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation which branded the company “unethical” and called for “urgently needed” oversight.
Google said in a statement to The Daily Beast “we have an unwavering commitment to supporting human rights organizations and efforts … we wish Ross all the best with his political ambitions.”
