YouTube sued for limiting white, Asian male hires for diversity purposes

YouTube will likely incur the wrath of people who think diversity is a four-letter word in the wake of a lawsuit that accuses the streaming giant of limiting its hiring of white and Asian men as a way to ensure more diversity.

The Wall Street Journal writes that Google-owned YouTube is being sued by former employee (and white male) Arne Wilberg because of its diversity-oriented hiring practices. “Last spring, YouTube recruiters were allegedly instructed to cancel interviews with applicants who weren’t female, black or Hispanic,” the Journal reports, “and to ‘purge entirely’ the applications of people who didn’t fit those categories.”

Google strongly rejected the charge while also defending its attempts to build a diverse workforce. “We have a clear policy to hire candidates based on their merit, not their identity,” a Google spokesperson told the Journal in a statement. “At the same time, we unapologetically try to find a diverse pool of qualified candidates for open roles, as this helps us hire the best people, improve our culture, and build better products.”

In his suit, Wilberg claims he was fired for retaliation because of complaints that he was being discriminated against because of his race and gender. This despite the countless white males who work for the tech giant. The legal action comes amid claims made by former Google employee James Damore that he was fired for penning an anti-diversity memo that stirred up a firestorm of controversy.

Damore recently withdrew a complaint he had filed with the National Labor Relations Board after its general counsel determined that Google did not violate the law when it fired him. However, Damore is still pursuing a class action lawsuit against the company in which he seeks to prove it discriminates against white, conservative men.

In a separate lawsuit filed this week, Google is being sued by a former female employee who claims she was subjected to, and discriminated against, as part of what she calls the company’s “bro culture.”