06-22-2022
The Fellowship of Friends ("Friendship") is a religious sect that seeks to achieve higher consciousness through fine arts and culture. According to a new lawsuit, the Fellowship has an outsized presence in the Google Developer Studio. As many as 12 Friendship members are allegedly working in the department. Kevin Lloyd, a former Google Video producer, filed a lawsuit in a California court alleging religious discrimination. Lloyd entered the company as a contractor through Advanced Systems Group (ASG).
Lloyd claims that Google fired him after he complained about the sect's influence within his department. Peter Lubbers runs the Google Developer Studio. He is a member of the religious sect, according to the July 2021 Fellowship directory obtained by the New York Times. Several years ago, Lloyd's attorney won a lawsuit against the company where Lubbers used to work. In the prior lawsuit, the employee asserted that the company failed to promote her because she did not belong to the Fellowship.
Another senior video producer who worked for the Studio said that the team's leadership used Google's hiring system for contractors to bring in people with less scrutiny and a less rigorous on-boarding process. Thus, they were able to bring in people from the Fellowship. Lloyd alleges one video producer attended video shoots intoxicated and threw things at a presenter. The company promoted the producer. When Lloyd brought this information to the attention of a team manager, he says the manager told him not to pursue it because Lubbers was a powerful person within the company. Google fired Lloyd. He claims that the company did not have a justification for his termination. Lubbers claims he fired Lloyd for performance reasons. Google issued a statement noting its policies to prevent discrimination and conflicts of interest. It stated it plans to thoroughly review the allegations and determine whether there is any merit. ASG denied the allegations.