WEBVTT - Bloomberg Law Brief: Diversity Issues at Google (Audio)

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<v Speaker 1>Now it's time for our daily Bloomberg Law Brief, exploring

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<v Speaker 1>legal issues in the news, and Today, Bloomberg La host

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<v Speaker 1>Gregg Store discusses a viral memo from a Google engineer

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<v Speaker 1>who was fired after blasting the web company's diversity policies.

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<v Speaker 1>He speaks with the Bloomberg News Google reporter Mark Berken.

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<v Speaker 1>What specifically does it criticize Google? For? Right? I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>the title is Google's ideological echo chamber. It makes the

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<v Speaker 1>point that a lot of the efforts around diversity inclusion,

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<v Speaker 1>specifically around gender diversity and inclusion are actually counterproductive to

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<v Speaker 1>Google as a business and as a culture. And it

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<v Speaker 1>kind of goes through in a very ten page memo,

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<v Speaker 1>very lengthy point about how these biases and the author

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<v Speaker 1>claims that that Google is a very liberal place and

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<v Speaker 1>sort of des sends um. Any type of defending opinion,

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<v Speaker 1>whether it be conservative or something like that would disagree

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<v Speaker 1>with the positions on diversity are suppressed. Um and not

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<v Speaker 1>giving not giving enough attention. Can you give us some

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<v Speaker 1>sense of the gender numbers at Google? Just how male

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<v Speaker 1>dominated is the company so overall? And the men as

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<v Speaker 1>their latest figures men and women. Um. But the important

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<v Speaker 1>part is in the tech team, UM, the tech employees,

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<v Speaker 1>it's it's much more heavily skewed its men. So the company,

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<v Speaker 1>like a lot of tech companies, are a very difficult

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<v Speaker 1>time in changing that ratio, even though they have for

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<v Speaker 1>years now they've talked about their efforts to improve diversity internally.

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<v Speaker 1>Yet what are some of the steps Google has been taking?

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<v Speaker 1>How how hard have they been working to try to

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<v Speaker 1>change those numbers? Right? I mean, it's really hard to

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<v Speaker 1>tell from the out, so they don't typically disclose that.

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<v Speaker 1>Then they they've started a program called it an unconscious

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<v Speaker 1>biased training, and that was one of the programs that

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<v Speaker 1>was called out in the memo. UM. The author said

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<v Speaker 1>that program is unnecessary and and sort of counterproductive. UM.

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<v Speaker 1>Google is now facing you know, it comes with a

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<v Speaker 1>sensitive time for the company. They're they're facing a Department

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<v Speaker 1>of Labor lawsuit about their the the gap in the

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<v Speaker 1>gender pay. Google has argued that that law is inaccurate,

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<v Speaker 1>that the women are not paid any differently than men,

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<v Speaker 1>But they've not been willing to this closed data to

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<v Speaker 1>show that. As Bloomberg News Google reporter Mark Bergen speaking

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<v Speaker 1>with the Bloomberg Lah host Gregg's story, you can listen

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<v Speaker 1>to Bloomberg Law weekdays at one pm Wall Street Time

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<v Speaker 1>here on Bloomberg Radio and Now. Among the top legal

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<v Speaker 1>stories from Bloomberg Law, the City of Chicago has sued

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<v Speaker 1>Sessions responded by saying Chicago is beset by a culture

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