Google Cancels Meeting Meant to Discuss Gender Issues

On Thursday, the American technology company specializes in Internet-related services and products, Alphabet Inc.’s Google, canceled an all-hands meeting meant to address the controversy over a memo opposing diversity policies, citing worker safety concerns.

The company meeting was scheduled to deliberate the consequence of Google’s decision on Monday to fire their engineer, James Damore, after he posted a memo on Google’s internal network arguing that the reason of the company’s lack of female engineers was because women were genetically less compatible to software engineering than men.

Google’s internal “Dory” system lets employees ask questions and then vote on the questions posted by other employees, so managers can address the most pressing ones. Wired magazine issued some of the questions word for word online on Thursday. Screenshots of the questions with names had been leaked, although none of those with names had been published as of late Thursday, a Google spokeswoman said.

The company said Damore dishonored its code of conduct and his actions advanced damaging gender stereotypes.

“We’ll find a better way to help our employees  connect and discuss these important issues further,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement.

Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, said in an email that several Google employees became fearful for their safety and grew concerned about being outed for speaking up at the town hall.

“Googlers are writing in, concerned about their safety and worried they may be outed publicly for asking a question in the Town Hall,” Pichai wrote.

“In recognition of Googler’s concerns, we need to step back and create a better set of conditions for us to have the discussion,” he added. “So in the coming days we will find several forums to gather and engage with Googlers, where people can feel comfortable to speak freely.”

Damore, who condemned in his memo “Google’s left bias” and “ideological echo chamber,” has appeared as a hero to some on the far right, who have attacked what they describe as a politically correct group thinker of Silicon Valley. The engineer has claimed he had right to voice concerns over workplace conditions and filed a labor relations board complaint to the National Labor Relations Board, prior to being fired, that he had been subject to “coercive statements” at Google.

The memo and firing have put Google in the middle of turmoil of political controversy. Some commentators, who represent the far right, have criticized the company’s decision, reproving it of suppressing free speech.

Meanwhile, a graphic consisted of the Twitter profiles of some Google workers who were gay, lesbian or transgender began to disseminate online, assisted by conservative commentators, like the former Breitbart writer, Milo Yiannopoulos. That graphic caused hundreds of negative comments about the people and Google.

Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL) traded 1.75%, or 16.49, to $923.59, by 5:07 AM GMT-4. It opened in $935, with a session high of $936.30, and a session low of $921.78. Its market capitalization was 649.49 billion, and its P/E ratio was 33.44.

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