Claire Stapleton
Claire Stapleton | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1985 or 1986 (age 38–39) |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Known for | Workplace activism |
| Notable work | Google Walkout for Real Change |
Claire Stapleton (born 1985 or 1986)[1] is an American writer and marketer known for her involvement in the 2018 Google Walkout for Real Change.[2] She is the author of the newsletter Tech Support.
Education
Stapleton earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Pennsylvania.[1]
Career and activism
Google (2007-2019)
Stapleton began working for Google in 2007, after briefly considering a role with Teach For America,[1] working on the internal communications team at their Mountain View, California campus.[2]
During her communications work, Stapleton helped produce the company's weekly all-hands meeting, TGIF, hosted by founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.[3][4] She was also responsible for writing the company's talking points in weekly emails to employees. At her final TGIF in Mountain View in 2012, Page called Stapleton on stage and presented her with a wooden plaque that dubbed her "The Bard of Google".[1][3]
Later, Stapleton joined YouTube's team as a marketing manager in New York City.[2]
On November 1, 2018, Stapleton, along with 20,000 Google workers across 50 cities, walked off the job in protest of Google's contracts with The Pentagon such as Project Maven, Project Dragonfly, and Project JEDI, and the company's handling of sexual harassment allegations,[2] including a $90 Million exit package for Andy Rubin,[4] who allegedly coerced a junior employee into sexual contact.[5] The employees, led by Stapleton, Meredith Whittaker, a former Google Artificial Intelligence researcher, and five others also put together a list of demands for change, including addressing what they alleged was "rampant" sexism and racism, getting rid of mandatory arbitration, and better pay for contractors.[2][6] According to Stapleton, the events themselves were not the catalyst of their strike, but rather the TGIF that followed the news of Rubin's resignation, which she said was "dismissive" and ignored the allegations about Rubin's conduct,[7] though CEO Sundar Pichai and Page both reportedly apologized for the incident. Pichai also said that 48 employees had been terminated after investigations into harassment, none of which received an exit package.[8] Stapleton said the meeting sparked her to start a Google group for women at the company, which she said quickly grew to 1,000 members.[7]
In the days following the walkout, Google responded in support, Pichai saying, "I take this responsibility very seriously and I’m committed to making the changes we need to improve," in a memo to employees. The memo also announced concession to some of the demands, including ending forced arbitration in cases of sexual assault and sexual harassment and overhaul the process for reporting sexual misconduct.[8] Stapleton and the other leaders acknowledged the progress in a note posted on the Google Walkout Medium account, but criticized leadership saying they, "troublingly erased [the demands] focused on racism, discrimination, and ... structural inequity," and for ignoring the request to elevate the diversity officer to the board.[9] When asked who should be leading addressing the remaining demands, Stapleton said, "Larry and Sergey, where are they?"[7]
In January 2019, Stapleton said she was demoted as part of a restructuring she said was vaguely communicated, losing half of her direct reports. She also said her work was reassigned to others and that her manager ignored her, and she was pushed to resign.[1] When Stapleton attempted to press human resources about the changes to her role and her work being delegated to other people, she said that the company advised her to go on medical leave, even though she wasn't ill. Stapleton hired an attorney, prompting a re-investigation into the demotion, and said that it was "walked back ... at least on paper."[2][4]
Stapleton and Whittaker alleged their managers had retaliated against them for their participation in organizing the walkout,[2][4] a claim that Google denied.[10] To Stapleton's allegations specifically, Google claimed that their investigation into whether she had been retaliated against by her management was unsubstantiated because they had found that they gave her their team's Culture Award for her role in the walkout.[1] Stapleton and Whittaker gathered stories from other participants in the walkout and shared their experiences of alleged retaliation on Medium,[2] and said the company had a "culture of retaliation" that disproportionately affected marginalized and underrepresented groups. They held a "Retaliation Town Hall" on April 26, 2019 to gather more stories and strategize pushing back against Google's leadership.[11]
On June 7, 2019, the Google Walkout Medium account published a note about Stapleton's resignation in May 2019,[3] shared internally on her last day. The post gained media attention. In the note, Stapleton described how her perspective of the company shifted over her tenure from pride and inspiration until 2017, when she returned from maternity leave, when she felt the company had "lost its moral compass." She described her decision to quit saying, “If I stayed, I didn’t just worry that there’d be more public flogging, shunning, and stress, I expected it.” Stapleton said she was physically escorted off of the premises by security, who also confiscated her company devices, she also said this was unconventional for departing workers.[2][4] Stapleton later warned potential Big Tech candidates to be wary of buying into the idea of changing the world from the inside saying, "...if you care about a company’s values, ethics and contributions to society, you should take your talents elsewhere."[1]
In an essay for Elle in December 2019,[1] Stapleton said that she became "intimately familiar" with how hostile Google's "famously open culture" was to outspoken workers, and that it was evidence of the lengths the company's leadership was willing to go to prevent staffers from holding the company accountable.[4] She also pointed out the façade of support around the walkout from Pichai and CFO Ruth Porat, who petitioned the National Labor Relations Board to limit protections for workers organizing via email a few days after the walkout.[3][12]
2020
In May 2020, Stapleton started a newsletter for her agitated peers in tech called Tech Support, meant to offer guidance for other tech workers from her experiences over her 12 years at Google.[13]
See Also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Goldberg, Emma (January 11, 2020). "'Techlash' Hits College Campuses". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 8, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Campbell, Alexia Fernández (June 7, 2019). "A Google walkout organizer just quit, saying she was branded with a "scarlet letter"". Vox. Retrieved January 7, 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b c d Stapleton, Claire (December 19, 2019). "Google Loved Me, Until I Pointed Out Everything That Sucked About It". ELLE. Retrieved January 7, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f Statt, Nick (December 19, 2019). "Google Walkout organizer Claire Stapleton tells her story of the company's retaliation". The Verge. Retrieved January 7, 2022.
- ^ Wakabayashi, Daisuke; Benner, Katie (October 25, 2018). "How Google Protected Andy Rubin, the 'Father of Android'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 8, 2022.
- ^ Gaber, Claire Stapleton, Tanuja Gupta, Meredith Whittaker, Celie O'Neil-Hart, Stephanie Parker, Erica Anderson, Amr (November 1, 2018). "We're the Organizers of the Google Walkout. Here Are Our Demands". The Cut. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b c Hamilton, Isobel Asher. "A Googler vividly described the 'disastrous' leadership meeting that sparked a giant protest over sexual misconduct". Business Insider. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b Conger, Kate; Wakabayashi, Daisuke (November 8, 2018). "Google Overhauls Sexual Misconduct Policy After Employee Walkout". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
- ^ Lawler, Opheli Garcia (November 8, 2018). "Google Walkout Organizers Aren't Satisfied With the Company's Response". The Cut. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Campbell, Alexia Fernández (April 23, 2019). "Google employees say the company is punishing them for their activism". Vox. Retrieved January 8, 2022.
- ^ Tiku, Nitasha. "Google Walkout Organizers Say They're Facing Retaliation". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved January 8, 2022.
- ^ Eidelson, Josh; Kanu, Hassan; Bergen, Mark (January 24, 2019). "Google Urged the U.S. to Limit Protection for Activist Workers". Bloomberg. Retrieved January 8, 2022.
- ^ Elias, Jennifer (May 28, 2020). "Former Google activist Claire Stapleton is starting an advice newsletter for frustrated tech workers". CNBC. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
