Costly dispute | Google ex-employee scores payout after being 'sacked for workplace activism'

Google has reportedly settled with a former worker who was allegedly sacked after criticising the firm’s political involvement – reigniting the debate around workplace activism.

As reported by Bloomberg, and later The Verge, one of the tech giant’s former employees, Laurence Berland, was fired in 2019 allegedly for violating Google’s data security policies.

He had been a vocal critic of Google’s work with the US Customs and Border Protection and was dismissed amid internal organising, The Verge said.

Google has now reached an undisclosed settlement with Berland after intervention from the National Labour Relations Board (NLRB) – the US Government’s labour laws agency which, also according to The Verge, has accused Google of violating labour law by firing Berland and further four other workers in 2019 over organizing activities.