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The former employees claim that Google fired them for their gender identity or sexual orientation after they called the company out for working with border agencies during the Trump administration.
Several former Google employees have filed lawsuits against the tech company, claiming they were fired and discriminated against for being gay or trans.
The former employees say they were sacked for challenging a plan for the company to work with the Trump administration's border security agencies, according to Bloomberg.
They say the company falsely said they had leaked information about the plans to the media.
Rebecca Rivers, Sophie Waldman, and Paul Duke argue in their suits that they had voiced their opposition to Google's plans to work with agencies that played a part in separating children from their parents and caged immigrants coming into the U.S. Their opposition, they say, stems from Google's "Don't Be Evil" mandate.
"Google decided to start punishing employees for fulfilling their contractual commitment to 'call out' conduct they believed to be inhumane or 'evil,'" the former workers said in the complaint, reports Bloomberg.
Earlier this year the National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint against Google. The board alleged that Google violated federal labor law by firing the three. That trial began in August.
The new suit was filed Monday in state court Santa Clara County, Cali., attorney Laurie Burgess told the outlet. The former employees accuse Google of violating state antidiscrimination laws. The three were out of five that were fired over the plan. Of the five, three former employees are trans and one is gay.
Waldman had questioned Google's commitment not to work with the border agencies in July 2019. Other employees followed up on Waldman's question. Leadership for the company said they wouldn't be part of projects at the border.
However, Rivers found that Google had provided a free trial of a new cloud platform called Anthos to Customs and Border Protection, according to Bloomberg. The news was reported by the media the same month.
The employees also claim that Google hired a consulting firm to defend itself against employees organizing.
The three were fired in November 2019. Google accused them of violating data security protocols and unauthorized searches.
Rivers, Waldman, and Duke deny those allegations.
"Google's conduct of targeting gay and trans employees for termination based upon their involvement in the above activities constitutes unlawful discrimination," the former employees allege in the suit.
Google was not immediately available for comment.
