Ex-Google Engineer Says Gender Memo Began on 12-Hour Flight
- James Damore wrote part of the document on work trip to China
- Google needs to fix its culture, he says in a video interview
Google’s Diversity Battle Goes Public
Ex-Google engineer James Damore says problems with the company’s culture and diversity programs prompted him to write the memo on gender differences that ignited a social media firestorm and led to his dismissal.
Damore, who went from employee to outcast upon the memo’s circulation, said in his first public comments that he penned the document out of a love for Alphabet Inc.’s Google. Damore was a software engineer at the search giant’s Mountain View headquarters until Monday afternoon, when he said he was fired for “perpetuating gender stereotypes.” His missive -- published internally to Google employees late last week -- argued that conservative viewpoints are suppressed at the company and biological differences explain in part why more men work in software engineering than women.