Kiersten Marie
- A former Googler who says she was discriminated against for her pregnancy is publishing a book.
- Chelsey Glasson worked at Google for five years before she says she was pushed out.
- Glasson wants to offer a path for others to seek justice and help pregnant workers facing layoffs.
Recent layoffs across the tech industry have hit workers hard, including new and expecting parents.
A slew of reports from ex-employees of companies like Google and Salesforce recount how recent layoffs hit them while going through pregnancy. Losing one's job can mean a loss in stability — and identity — right when individuals are most vulnerable.
Being on parental leave does not grant an employee immunity from being laid off by their employer, so long as there's a legitimate business reason unrelated to the leave. Still, many employees have questioned whether they were included in cuts specifically because they were on parental leave.
Former Googler Chelsey Glasson acknowledges that the recent tech downturn could stifle dissent from people who may face pregnancy discrimination. She says she's heard from Googlers who feared they were included in recent mass layoffs because of their pregnancies. One Googler laid off in January wrote on LinkedIn that she felt unsettled by Google laying off "a woman at her last bit of pregnancy."
In addition, former employees at Google said in March that the company had been unwilling to pay out approved time for maternity leave that they requested before being laid off, instead getting the same severance offered to everyone else. Meanwhile, Salesforce employee McKenzie Gregory reported being laid off in April while she was "washing baby bottles" during maternity leave.
Still, in the current environment, it could be difficult to speak up as tech companies slow hiring.
Glasson had a similar experience at Google, where she worked as a senior user researcher and manager and left in 2019, shortly after giving birth. While she was not laid off, she says she lost out on a promotion.
Glasson says she was offered a management position but only could start the role after her maternity leave. As Glasson's pregnancy progressed and she experienced complications, she says she was then told there was no guarantee of a management role being available upon her return. She's speaking about her experiences in a book she is publishing called "Black Box: A Pregnancy Discrimination Memoir."
"I hope there will be discussions about how hard it is to hold a big company like Google accountable and what needs to change," Glasson told Insider.
A Google spokesperson referred Insider to its previous comments: "As we shared with impacted employees, we benchmarked this package to ensure the care we're providing compares favorably with other companies, including for Googlers on leave."
Many workers fear pregnancy discrimination
Nearly 1 in 4 mothers have considered leaving their jobs because they feared being discriminated against during pregnancy or because of a lack of reasonable accommodations, according to a 2022 study by the Bipartisan Policy Center and Morning Consult. In addition, 1 in 5 mothers said they experienced pregnancy discrimination in the workplace.
Glasson aims to help others going through similar experiences to feel recognized and not lose confidence.
Previously, Glasson wrote a memo internally about her situation that sparked uproar within the tech giant. She later filed a lawsuit in 2019 arguing she was retaliated against because of her pregnancy. She decided to do so after hearing from other current and former Googlers who said they faced pregnancy discrimination at the company. Google eventually settled Glasson's lawsuit for an undisclosed amount.
"So much of what I went through was this giant black box," Glasson said. "As I was navigating my experiences, there just wasn't a whole lot of information out there to guide me about how to file a lawsuit against a company like Google."
Google declined to comment on Glasson's lawsuit.
Challenges for pregnant workers
Finding a job can take months, and expecting parents may find it challenging to start the job search at the later stages in pregnancy.
In addition, finding an attorney for a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit can be "a challenging task" because of the financial risk for smaller law firms, Glasson said. One change that could help the industry would be some means of making funding available for people suing over pregnancy discrimination, she added.
Meanwhile, tech companies "can easily spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a lawsuit without blinking an eye," Glasson said.
"Google knows they have the upper hand," she said.
A string of other whistleblowers have in recent years shed light on discrimination within the halls of major tech giants. In 2017, Susan Fowler wrote a blog post on sexual harassment at Uber that led to an external probe and multiple firings. Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick's resignation was due in part to the blog post that detailed rampant inappropriate behavior pervasive within the company.
"Black Box: A Pregnancy Discrimination Memoir" will be published on August 29.
Got a tip? This reporter can be reached via email at tmaxwell@insider.com, Signal at 540.955.7134, or Twitter at @tomaxwell.
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