Google Illegally Fired And Spied On Workers Who Tried To Organize, Labor Agency Says

Google has been rocked by activism among employees who have grown increasingly critical of the company in recent years over issues ranging from sexual harassment to contracts with the U.S. government.

Noah Berger / AP

Google illegally fired two employees involved in labor organizing last year, the National Labor Relations Board alleged in a complaint on Wednesday.

The tech giant also violated federal labor law, the agency said, by surveilling employees who viewed a union organizing presentation, interrogating others, unfairly enforcing some rules and maintaining policies that “discourage” workers from protected organizing activities.

The complaint said Google’s actions amounted to “interfering with, restraining and coercing employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed” by the National Labor Relations Act, the 1935 law that guarantees workers the right to unionize and to band together to improve their working conditions.