A former Google employee alleges in a lawsuit that the tech giant discriminated against her and six other staffers who took or planned to take parental leave.
Paula Byrne, 44, said in Santa Clara County court documents filed Wednesday that she and her colleagues were illegally targeted during a round of layoffs in 2023.
“Google forces their employees to choose between their job or starting a family,” Byrne said in a press release. “They turned what should have been one of the most joyous times in life into a nightmare.”
A Google spokesperson did not return a request for comment by publication time.
Byrne said she worked at Google for nearly 15 years and was steadily promoted for “exceptional” performance. She led a team that integrated Fitbit personnel and products after Google acquired the fitness company in 2021.
In 2022, Byrne became pregnant with her first child and “took very few days off,” the lawsuit says. Her performance review that year, included in the court documents, lauded her for delivering “a solid performance” and leading her team to meet its objectives despite limited resources.
She planned an eight-month maternity leave in 2023 to care for her second child. That’s when things went awry, the suit says.
Six months into her leave, she was informed that she and several other members of her team would be laid off.
“The employees who remained did not have young children,” the lawsuit says, adding that Byrne was replaced by a “younger, less experienced employee.”
The suit says Byrne is aware of four other employees who were on parental leave during the 2023 layoffs and two who had either scheduled or recently returned from leave. All were laid off, according to the lawsuit.
Byrne said she applied for other roles at Google but did not receive any offers.
The lawsuit is seeking injunctive relief to stop the alleged practice of targeting employees on parental leave during layoffs.
“Google’s actions are not only unlawful but part of a troubling pattern of discrimination and retaliation against employees who take parental or medical leave,” said Tracy Lemmon, one of Byrne’s attorneys, in the press release.