Black, deaf woman sues Google for ‘using’ her for DEI optics

(Daily Caller News Foundation) – The first black, deaf woman to work at Google sued the company for “using” her to fulfill their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) quota.

Jalon Hall accused Google of discriminating against her based on race and disability in a lawsuit filed in the U.S. Northern District of California, according to Wired. “Google is using me to make them look inclusive for the Deaf community and the overall Disability community,” Hall told the outlet. “In reality, they need to do better.”

Hall alleged that Google limited her access to sign-language interpreters soon after starting the job, the lawsuit stated. She accused Google of excluding her from roundtable discussions and refusing to promote her as a result of “inaccurate evaluation” after she worked at the company for three years, according to the outlet.

Hall alleged that leadership at Google was hostile and racially charged, according to the lawsuit. Hall complained that the manager at the company’s machine-learning research program called her an “aggressive black deaf woman” and told her to “keep her mouth shut and take a sales role,” Wired reported.

Google spoke positively of Hall on social media platforms like LinkedIn and Instagram. The company wrote that Hall’s employment helped “expand opportunities for Black Deaf professionals” and made “#LifeAtGoogle more inclusive.” Despite the outward praise, Hall said she “felt a sense of humiliation” that her “career wasn’t progressing,” according to the outlet. However, Hall refused to quit the company.

“It would be selfish to quit Google,” Hall said. “I’m standing in the gap for those often pushed aside.”

Google recently faced backlash over the rollout of its Gemini AI chatbot that struggled to produce images of white people as a result of programming adhering to DEI principles. Google promised to fix the AI’s programming, acknowledging that the chatbot was “missing the mark” despite portraying “a wide range of people.”

Employees from Google have also complained about the company’s “woke lunacy” and toxic environment, according to a report by Pirate Wires. Every employee interviewed in the report told “a story about a promotion that happened for reasons other than merit.”