Google Terminates 28 Employees for Opposing Israel Cloud Contract

Google Terminates 28 Employees for Protesting $1.2 Billion Israel Cloud Contract

On Wednesday, Google fired 28 employees for participating in protests against Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion cloud computing agreement with the Israeli government that also involves Amazon. Workers from both companies have expressed concerns that the deal provides Israel’s security apparatus with advanced technology that could potentially contribute to the harm and death of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

Arrests and Terminations

Nine employees were arrested by police on Tuesday evening for staging sit-in protests at the office of Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian in Sunnyvale, California, and a company office in New York. These nine workers, along with 19 other protest participants, were subsequently fired.

Google spokesperson Anna Kowalczyk stated that the employees were terminated following an “internal investigation” that found them guilty of “physically impeding other employees’ work and preventing them from accessing our facilities.” She added that “after refusing multiple requests to leave the premises, law enforcement was engaged to remove them to ensure office safety.” Kowalczyk also emphasized that the Nimbus contract is “not directed” at classified or military work.

Escalating Protests and Casualties

The action against Project Nimbus on Tuesday comes amidst reports that the death toll from the IDF’s offensive on Hamas in Gaza has surpassed a significant threshold, prompting protests by hundreds of people—including many Google workers—outside company offices in New York, Sunnyvale, and Seattle. Kowalczyk characterized the participation by employees as “a small number” relative to Alphabet’s total headcount of more than 180,000 employees at the end of 2023.

Allegations of Retaliation and Illegal Behavior

Jane Chung, a spokesperson for No Tech for Apartheid—the coalition of tech workers and activist groups that organized the protests—claims that some of the fired workers had been involved in less provocative actions than those who occupied offices, such as attending outdoor protests or distributing flyers.

Zelda Montes, a former YouTube software engineer who was arrested after occupying Google’s New York office for more than 10 hours, accuses the company of violating US legal protections for workers. “It’s so clear that Google is engaging in illegal behavior to deter our labor organizing by retaliating against workers who weren’t arrested,” Montes says. “I’m disappointed at just how evil Google can be, but not surprised. They’re more outraged by employees peacefully sitting in than at how their technology is murdering people.”

Company-wide Email Addresses Protests and Consequences

On Wednesday night, Google sent a company-wide email titled “Serious consequences for disruptive behavior,” addressing “reports of protests” without explicitly mentioning Israel, Gaza, or the contract name. The email confirmed that nine employees were arrested and 28 were fired, stating, “The overwhelming majority of our employees do the right thing. If you’re one of the few who are tempted to think we’re going to overlook conduct that violates our policies, think again.”