US Labour Board accuses Google of 'spying on employees' before firing them

Trouble mounted for Google after the US Labour Board accused the tech giant of allegedly spying on its disgruntled employees before firing them. According to a complaint filed by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Google came under scrutiny over firing two of its employees- Laurence Berland and Kathryn Spiers- in connection with employee activism, which is being seen as a violation of the US labor laws.  

As per a report by The Verge, "Berland was organizing against Google's decision to work with IRI Consultants, a firm is known for its anti-union efforts when he was let go for reviewing other employees' calendars," while "Spiers was fired after she created a pop-up for Google employees visiting the IRI Consultants website." The duo had been fired by the company in late 2019.

Google, on the other hand, has alleged that Spiers violated security policies. A Google spokesperson has called the actions of the fired employees 'a serious violation' of its policies which comes from their 'privileged access to internal systems.' It has also vowed to continue cooperating with the US Labour Board over its decision. Meanwhile, the NLRB is of the opinion that the firing was clearly 'unlawful.' 

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"We'll continue to provide information to the NLRB and the administrative judge about our decision to terminate or discipline employees who abused their privileged access to internal systems, such as our security tools or colleagues' calendars. Such actions are a serious violation of our policies and an unacceptable breach of a trusted responsibility, and we will be defending our position," said a Google spokesperson to The Verge. 

In November 2019, nearly 20,000 Google employees across the world staged a walkout, some charging the tech giant of 'workplace surveillance' allegedly via a browser extension in the Calendar app. Thereafter, 4,000 Google employees signed a petition demanding "a clear policy stating that neither Google nor its contractors will ever build warfare technology."

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(With Agency Inputs; AP Image)