Case 1: Was Google wrong?

Adapted from “Was Google wrong to fire James Damore aftermemo controversy?”, BBC News, August 9, 2017(http://www.bbc.com/news/world-40865261)

Google has fired an employee who wrote a controversial memoopposed to diversity programmes and hiring practices. The company'schief executive said the “offensive” text advanced “harmful genderstereotypes”. Did Google do the right thing?

First things first: What did the memosay?

A senior Google employee, James Damore, argued in an internalmemo that perhaps tech companies that try diversity programmes toget more women into the industry are looking at things the wrongway. It's not just because of recruitment practices or education ordiscrimination that more men than women work in the tech industry,he argued, but because of biological differences.

Women are “on average more interested in people” as opposed tothings, he said, “more co-operative” and “more prone to anxiety” -all things that stop them going in to the tech industry or risingto the top of it. And he said this couldn't usually be said bypeople who worked for Google, because of an “ideological echochamber” and a “shaming culture and the possibility of beingfired”.

After the memo received a few days of international attention,Mr Damore was fired. He is reported to be considering legal action.The memo and now his sacking have been much discussed on socialmedia, with some agreeing with him, some offering him jobs, andothers aghast at his views.

Google was wrong to fire him, saysome

“I think it's wrong for a company to fire someone for simplyexpressing their opinion,” said Jodie Ginsberg of the Index onCensorship pressure group. Asked whether Mr Damore being fired wascensorship, she said yes. “Yes, in that the message it's sending isthat people are not free to express their beliefs and opinions. Themessage is we should just shut down the views with which wedisagree … A much better way is to discuss those opinionsopenly.”

Geoffrey Miller, an evolutionary psychologist at the Universityof New Mexico, said Google had gone down in his estimation when itfired Mr Damore. “It was reasonable of this author to expect thathis argument would be respected, that he would be able to air itwith some safety,” he said. “It's just embarrassing for Google,” hecontinued. “I used to think Google was one of the coolest companieson earth. I use a lot of their software of all kinds and now I justfeel like I'm supporting this ideological juggernaut … If thereaction to being told that you are an ideological echo chamber isthat kind of defensiveness, to me it's pretty strong evidence thatit probably is biased.”

Google was right to fire him, sayothers

On the other hand, says technology writer and broadcaster KateBevan, the memo created a hostile environment for female staff.“I'm not very keen on the mob going for people to get the sack,”she said. “But in this case he was acting in a way that wasdetrimental to his colleagues … If you stand up and declare inpublic that you think a large number of your colleagues are unfitto do the job because of their chromosomes, you're telling yourcolleagues 'I don't think you're good enough'.”

That echoes the argument made by Google's CEO Sundar Pichai in aletter to staff: “To suggest a group of our colleagues have traitsthat make them less biologically suited to that work is offensiveand not OK.”

Ms Bevan continued: “The best engineers are not necessarilymale. If you continue to restrict your hiring pool to one type ofpeople you're going to get some mediocre people in there.” Sheargued that a more diverse workplace would be better for business,too, saying: “If you've got a limited workforce you're going tolimit the products you make.”

So the science he cited - was itlegit?

Geoffrey Miller, the evolutionary psychologist, told the BBCthat Mr Damore got “most of the science right” and showed “prettygood judgment about what we know and what we don't know”. He wrotethat the memo “would get at least an A- in any Masters psychologycourse”. But Gina Rippon, the chair of cognitive brain imaging atAston University in Birmingham, England, disagreed. She told theBBC: “The key thing for me is that he's got quite a lot of thescience wrong … The basis of his argument is wrong. I don't knowwho he's been reading.”

Just 20% of Google's technical roles are filled by women,according to the company's own figures. Nearly half ofnon-technical staff are female, but the fact remains that there aremany more men than women working in tech companies like Google. A2016 study of women in Silicon Valley found that half of the womenasked had repeatedly been told they were too aggressive, and nearlyhalf had been asked to do low-level jobs their male colleaguesweren't asked to do, like taking notes or ordering food.

If you wish, you can read the full memo at:

https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2017/08/exclusive-heres-the-full-10-page-anti-diversity-screed-circulating-internally-at-google/

(a)Explainhow the issues raised in this media report reflect descriptive andnormative approaches to understanding ethics.

(b)Explainhow the issues raised in this media report can be related to MoralRights.

(c)Imagineyou were the CEO of Google Inc., deciding whether or not to fireJames Damore. Using Utilitarianism, determine whether firing JamesDamore is a moral act.

(Total = 19marks)

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