Article Review: Workplace Discrimination Case at Google - HRM

This report analyzes a workplace discrimination case at Google, focusing on a situation where a pregnant employee faced discrimination. The report examines the legal issues, the ethical code of conduct, and the organizational approach taken by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). It highlights the supervisor's inappropriate comments, the lack of proper managerial techniques, and the misuse of power and authority. The report also discusses the controversies surrounding the claims, the role of internal memos, and the delayed response to the allegations. It concludes by emphasizing the ethical violations, the lack of evidence regarding discrimination, and the negligence in handling the issue, providing a comprehensive overview of the case and its implications for human resource management practices.

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Article review on the workplace discrimination in Google
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ARTICLE SOURCE: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/19/google-pregnancy-discrimination-
case-under-investigation-by-eeoc.html
Legal issues
The issue reflects the case of discrimination in the workplace of Google against a
pregnant employee. The case is a breach of the ethical code of conduct, which is to be
followed for enhancing the standards of the organizational behaviour. Making discriminatory
remarks is also a violation to the duties and responsibilities (Cnbc.com, 2020). One of the
striking issue is that the comments were made by the supervisor, which adds an interrogative
parameter to the relationship between the employee and employee. Retaliation for the poor
performance also reflects the misuse of the power and authority, which is a challenge in terms
of the employment.
Organizational approach
US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has indulged in an investigation
process for reviewing the actual issue. The statements of the victim has been recorded for
gaining an insight into the actuality of the situation. Media coverage also reflects the
approach towards filing the complaints and exercising the attorney (Cnbc.com, 2020). The
national Labours relations was also involved in the process, which reflected the approach
towards enforcement of the latest legislation for improving the workplace conditions.
According to the investigations, it was found that there were complaints and
controversies regarding the claims made by the employee. Further, it was also found that four
of the employees were fired. The labour settlement was the ground for this situation.
Discrimination lawsuits were also filed, which mounted for $11 million (Cnbc.com, 2020).
However, one of the striking issue was the decline of the situation by the Equal Employment
Opportunity commission. The charges for the complaints was strictly confidential, which
reflected the consciousness towards preservation of the confidentiality in the disclosure of the

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information. Google refrained for confirming for the accusation regarding the improvements
in the reporting systems, which was considered as inappropriate misconduct.
According to the ethical code of conduct, the main aim was to provide support and
care to the needy people. However, the issue is completely a breach and violation of the
vision and values, which is striking and alarming. As a matter of specification, making
discriminatory comments about the pregnant employee is completely unethical (Cnbc.com,
2020). Discovering that the comments were made by the supervisor reflects the lack of proper
managerial techniques, which adds to the complexities in terms of the people management.
Inappropriate conduct also reflects the misuse of the power and authority, which is neglected.
This issue is also an addition to the complexities in the leadership style for controlling the
behaviour and performance of the staffs (Cnbc.com, 2020).
Retaliation for the poor performance is completely unethical in terms of the
employees’ present condition. This issue reflects the lack of consciousness towards the need
analysis and contradicts the approach towards ensuring the wellbeing of the employees. The
decision of not returning back is effective in terms of restoring justice for the encountered
incident. Such claims are completely unjustified, however, provision of maternity leave is
justified and in alignment with the standards and protocols of the organizational behaviour.
Internal memo and its presentation is also according to the rules and regulations, which is
productive in terms of producing written claims regarding the issues encountered (Cnbc.com,
2020). Verification of the memo by the board panel members is within the legal parameters,
which assists in averting the illegal instances and issues.
Inappropriate comments regarding the investigation reflects misuse and distrust on the
use of the power of attorney in case of Google, which adds an interrogative parameter to the
leadership style. Controversies also generated in the claims, which further aggravates the

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conflicts regarding the human resource management practices. Unavailability for answering
the comments further lead to confusions. Complaints regarding the investigations by EEOC
regarding the allegations adds an interrogative parameter about the exercise of the power and
authority (Cnbc.com, 2020). According to the comments, it was established that the
supervisor belonged to the Google Cloud team. The response to the allegation was made,
however delayed, which reflects a breach of the duties and responsibilities. One of the
striking issues is that no evidence was found regarding the discrimination, which is a
misguiding information and response. According to the managerial supervision, insufficient
headcount was an issue in terms of deducing relevant conclusion regarding the discriminatory
issue. The decision of transferring the case to the division reflects the divisional structure,
where such issues need to be dealt with due consideration (Cnbc.com, 2020). However,
negligence approach towards dealing with the issue is a contradiction. Evaluation was there,
however, it lacked strategic planning, resulting in such controversies.

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Reference
Cnbc.com (2020). Google pregnancy case under discrimination. Retrieved 13th March 2020
from https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/19/google-pregnancy-discrimination-case-under-
investigation-by-eeoc.html