Contentious Memo Strikes Nerve Inside Google and Out

Contentious Memo Strikes Nerve Inside Google and Out
He said efforts by the company to reach equal representation of women in technology and leadership were “unfair, divisive, and bad for business.”
The memo was originally posted on an internal mailing list and was shared widely inside the company and throughout Silicon Valley.
Google fired Mr. Damore on Monday and said that he had violated the company’s rules by “advancing harmful gender stereotypes.”
In a short email exchange on Monday after his firing, Mr. Damore, who was a senior software engineer in Google’s
search division, said he had not expected this type of reaction when he shared his missive last week.
His 10-page memo, titled “Google’s Ideological Echo Chamber,” argued
that “personality differences” between men and women — like a woman having a lower tolerance for stress — help explain why there were fewer women in engineering and leadership roles at the company.
Megan Smith, a former vice president at Google who recently served as the chief technology officer for the United
States under President Barack Obama, said the views promoted by Mr. Damore were common in Silicon Valley.
That initial assessment of Google seemed far removed from the contentious memo written by the 28-year-old Mr. Damore last week
that has enraged advocates of greater diversity in the technology industry.
The department has not charged Google with any wrongdoing, but a department official said there was evidence
that the company systematically paid women less than men.