A former Google video producer has settled a lawsuit alleging he was fired after complaining that a religious cult had gained a foothold within a business unit of the company.
Kevin Lloyd, 34, said in the lawsuit he was fired after complaining that the Fellowship of Friends, a religious organization based in the Sierra Nevada foothills, dominated a business unit called Google Developer Studios, which makes videos demonstrating the technologies .
The lawsuit alleged that the business unit’s leader – Peter Lubbers, a longtime member of the Fellowship of Friends – hired many of the religious group’s members as contractors on the team, helping some to advance to full-time positions and work gave to many others. when staffing corporate conferences and parties.
Google confirmed on Monday that the suit had been resolved. It also confirmed Mr Lubbers was no longer employed by Google, although it declined to explain his departure. Mr Lubbers was not immediately available for comment.
Mr. Lloyd filed the lawsuit last year against both Google and Advanced Systems Group, or ASG, an employment agency that brought him to Google as a contractor. It accused both companies of violating a California labor law that protects workers from discrimination.
The lawsuit raised questions about Google’s reliance on contract workers, who now have more full-time employees within the company. Most of the team of Mr. Lloyd joined the company through ASG as a contractor, including many members of the Fellowship.
Mr Lloyd agreed to settle the lawsuit last week. The terms of the settlement – which was between Mr Lloyd and ASG – were not disclosed.
The Fellowship of Friends was founded in 1970 by a former school teacher, Robert Earl Burton, and describes itself as “available to all who are interested in pursuing the spiritual work of awakening.” It claims about 1,500 members around the world, including about 500 in and around Oregon House, California, a small town about 180 miles north of Google’s Silicon Valley headquarters.
Mr. Burton believed that people could achieve higher consciousness by embracing the fine arts. Over the decades, he cultivated an extravagant lifestyle with the help of his followers, who often donated 10 percent of their monthly earnings to the organization.
In 1984, a former member filed a lawsuit alleging that young men who had joined the organization had been “violently and unlawfully sexually seduced by Burton.” In 1996, another former member accused Mr Burton of sexual misconduct with him when he was a minor. Both suits were settled out of court.
In 2008, Catherine Jones, attorney for Mr. Lloyd in his lawsuit against Google and ASG, a similar lawsuit against the employment agency Kelly Services. With the lawsuit, a former Kelly employee alleged that the company had not promoted her because, unlike many colleagues, she was not a member of the Fellowship. A court awarded her $6.5 million in damages.
Prior to joining Google and leading Google Developer Studios, Mr. Lubbers at Kelly Services.
