28 Google Employees Fired for Opposing Deal with Israel

Alphabet Inc.’s Google has terminated 28 employees who participated in protests against Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion joint contract with Amazon.com Inc. to supply the Israeli government with AI and cloud services. The demonstrations, organized by the No Tech for Apartheid organization, took place across Google offices in New York City, Seattle, and Sunnyvale, California.

Nine individuals were arrested for trespassing. Google informed several workers involved in the protests, including those who were not directly part of the sit-in, that they had been placed on leave.

The affected employees were told that the matter would be treated as confidential, with information disclosed on a need-to-know basis. According to Google, the protests constituted a violation of policies and unacceptable behavior.

The company engaged law enforcement to remove the protesters from the premises after they refused multiple requests to leave. Investigations resulted in the termination of employment for 28 employees, with Google promising to continue the investigations and take necessary actions.

Employee activism has tested Google’s commitment to an open debate culture. In 2018, workers who organized a walkout over the company’s handling of sexual assault allegations claimed to have faced repercussions.

Others alleged they were fired for organizing opposition to Google’s work with federal Customs and Border Protection. US labor law allows employees to engage in collective action related to working conditions.

Tech workers may argue that this grants them the ability to object to how the tools they create are used. Google, known for its open and cosmopolitan work culture, responded to labor activism in a stringent manner.

The company’s identification of protest participants remains unclear. Some workers questioned the grounds for placing employees on leave and argued that the protesters did not violate any company policies.

Google has grappled with managing internal debate about the Middle East conflict, with posts on internal forums reflecting a mix of pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli sentiment, and discussions being locked down due to hostility. Despite the terminations, employees protesting against Project Nimbus have reported receiving increased support since the sit-in.