Google fired 28 employees involved in protests over a cloud storage contract with the Israeli government, according to statements from the company and activists.
Employees staged sit-ins at the company’s offices in California and New York over Google’s $1.2 billion contract to provide customized tools for the Israeli military. They were fired Wednesday night after police arrested nine people.
Google said that “a small number of protesting employees entered and disrupted some of our headquarters.”
“After rejecting multiple requests to leave the premises, authorities had to remove them to ensure the safety of the office,” Google said.
The company said it conducted “individual investigations that resulted in the termination of 28 employees, and will continue to investigate and take necessary action.”
The group behind the protests, No Tech for Apartheid, disputed Google’s version of events, saying the company fired people who were not directly involved.
The company’s claim that the protests were part of a long-running campaign by groups and “people who largely do not work at Google” was false, the group said.
The group posted photos and videos on social media showing workers at Google offices holding signs and sitting on the floor, chanting slogans.
Source: With information from AP.
