Margaret Mitchell, co-leader of Google’s Ethical AI team, says the company fired her after an investigation into her use of corporate email.
Why it matters: Google was already under fire due to the dismissal of Timnit Gebru, the other co-leader of the team. Mitchell has been barred from operating emails since last month after a source said her attempt to seek correspondence in the company for evidence in support of Gebru’s allegation of discrimination and harassment.
The move comes on the same day that Google internally announced that they had completed the investigation into Gebru’s exit, as Axios first reported. The company did not disclose the findings of the investigation, but announced a series of policy changes, including that management members worldwide are linked to diversity and inclusion efforts.
Between the lines door: Mitchell too posted a tweet criticism of Google’s handling of Gebru and a subsequent meeting between CEO Sundar Pichai and leaders of black colleges and universities.
“Say you have a problem alienating black women all the time and causing serious damage to their lives. You can: A) try to undo the damage B) try to find more black people who like you (the tokenism approach). Strength. …. “
– Margaret Mitchell, in a Twitter post in January
What they say:
- Mitchell, on Twitter: “I’m fired.”
- Google, in a statement to Axios: “After reviewing the conduct of this manager, we have confirmed that there are multiple violations of our code of conduct, as well as our security policies, which include the filtering out of confidential business sensitive documents and private data of other employees.”
Go deeper: Google Adapts Diversity, Research Policy to Query