Former Google employee alleges company executives committed fraud, discrimination

A former Google employee filed a discrimination and wrongful termination lawsuit against the tech giant last month, alleging that executives used company connections for personal gain and then tanked his career when he blew the whistle.

Leilei Shan, a longtime Google employee, claims that he was pressured to participate in unethical and unlawful activities because of his Chinese heritage, and was ousted from Google when he refused to comply, according to a civil lawsuit filed with Santa Clara County Superior Court on May 21. Shan’s termination at Google coincided with a larger sweep of layoffs announced in January.

Google did not respond to a request for comment about the litigation.

ILG Legal Office, the law firm representing Shan, provided a statement about the complaint. “Shan alleges that he discovered a scheme whereby well-connected executives hijacked charity resources meant for underprivileged youths in order to benefit children of the most elite professionals in Silicon Valley,” ILG said.

Shan, a senior manager of corporate engineering, started working at Google in 2010 and was promoted several times, according to the lawsuit. Up until the last six months of his employment, Shan received positive performance reviews, but the lawsuit says this changed when he started to raise red flags about his manager, Ying Liu, who was director of engineering at the time.

According to the lawsuit, Shan received negative performance reviews from Liu after he submitted complaints about a Google apprentice program that had partnered with Innovantre, a Palo Alto-based nonprofit that helps disadvantaged teens explore business and tech careers.

Jannie Affeld, vice-president of engineering at Google, owned Innovantre and was an executive sponsor of the apprentice program, as well as Liu’s supervisor. The lawsuit alleges that Affeld did not disclose her personal connections to the nonprofit and collected donations for it from an internal Google site.

It also claims that Innovantre did not serve disadvantaged youth, but instead funneled privileged children into the Google apprentice program. “It seemed more like a gathering of Ms. Affeld’s family, friends and team members, but in the name of a resource-intensive and Google-branded program,” the complaint said.

According to the lawsuit, Affeld used the apprentice program to help wealthy and well-connected teens – most of whom attended Gunn High School in Palo Alto – get into elite colleges and universities. This included Affeld’s two sons and Liu’s daughter, who also participated in the program, the lawsuit said.

Shan reported his concerns about the apprentice program to Google’s human resources department in August. A few days later, he received “negative informal feedback for the first time” from Liu and was denied an expected promotion, according to the lawsuit. But as recently as July, Liu had commended Shan’s performance without mentioning any shortcomings.

Allegations of discrimination and retaliation

The lawsuit claims Shan’s experiences reflected a systemic pattern of discrimination at Google, where employees of Chinese descent were held to a different standard than other employees and pressured to “participate in unethical and unlawful activities in exchange for special treatment” from executives, also of Chinese descent.

Liu allegedly told Shan several times that he needed to show “loyalty” to her and Affeld, which was linked to perceptions of a shared Chinese heritage; failure to comply with Liu and Affeld’s demands led to intimidating threats and career repercussions, the lawsuit said.

Despite these threats, Shan said he refused to participate in conduct that he viewed as unethical or unlawful. These alleged acts included providing a business rationale for retaining an unqualified vendor, collecting “dirty material” about a colleague and engaging in other retaliation campaigns against non-compliant employees, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit also claims that Liu subjected Shan to inappropriate comments about his age, and allegedly made statements that younger employees worked harder and sacrificed more than older employees, who should quit or retire.

Shan reported these statements to human resources in June and July last year, prior to his complaints about the apprentice program. Shortly afterwards, Shan experienced “increasingly hostile and abusive” treatment from Liu and Affeld that included instances of “disrespect, isolation, exclusion of key decisions, intense scrutiny and unrealistic expectations,” the lawsuit said.

Shan asked to transfer to another team in October, but was denied the request and told that he needed to continue to report to Liu until the investigation by human resources was complete. In November, Shan underwent another performance review with Liu and received such a poor score that it factored into his termination in January, the lawsuit said.

A few days before Shan was laid off, Google provided a written warning to Liu, stating that she had “created a culture of intimidation” and made “inappropriate comments about age and heritage,” according to the complaint. Google also concluded that Affeld had a “conflict of interest” violation by not disclosing her relationship with Innovantre and raising funds for it.

Affeld and Liu still hold positions at Google, according to the lawsuit, but all of the employees who had reported concerns of fraud, discrimination and retaliation were slated for the January layoffs. The lawsuit also claims that employees who demonstrated “loyalty” to Affeld were protected from the layoffs.

The lawsuit alleges that Google failed to prevent and properly investigate acts of harassment, discrimination and retaliation, as well as other claims, and is asking for restitution that includes lost wages and equity. Last year, Shan’s annual compensation was $666,000.