The black Google employee was reported to security and then taken away from the company because they didn’t believe he was working for the tech giant.
A black Google employee says he was pulled over by security while at work after being reported by someone who believed he was entering company premises.
Angel Onuoha claimed he was cycling around campus in Mountain View, Calif. When he was pulled over by security and asked him to show proof of his employee status.
“I was riding my bike around the Google campus and someone called security because they didn’t believe I was an employee,” was his viral tweet shared last week.
“Had to be escorted by two security guards to check my ID.”
Mr. Onuoha, who works as an associate product manager for the tech giant , said he was eventually taken off his identification badge and told to pursue the matter with security.
“Later that day, they took my ID away from me, and they told me to call security if I got into trouble,” his additional tweet reads.
He claimed that the test meant he had missed the trip home.
“And that was after I detained me for 30 minutes, which caused me to miss the bus ride home,” he wrote.
One of the responses was from a black man who claimed to have previously worked at Google in security.
“Dawg, I was working as security at Google and I was called to security,” he wrote.
Others have had similar instances of discrimination in corporate workplaces.
A Google spokesperson told Forbes the company was taking Mr Onuoha’s “concerns very seriously”.
“We take the concerns of this employee very seriously, are in contact with him and are looking into the matter. We learned that the employee was having issues with their badge due to an administrative error and contacted the reception team for assistance, ”the spokesperson said.
“After being unable to resolve the issue, the security team was called in to investigate and help resolve the issue.”
The company said it was recently encouraging employees to “drop investigations into these kinds of access problems to our security team.”
“Our goal is to ensure that every employee experiences Google as an inclusive workplace and that we create a stronger sense of belonging for all employees,” the spokesperson said.
Google was contacted by news.com.au for comment on the matter, but did not respond until posting.
The company last year announced plans to double its black workforce by 2025 following the global Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the death of George Floyd.
Since his commitment, however, black employees have only increased by 1%, while white employees have decreased by 1.3%.
Additionally, a diversity report from Alphabet Inc found that while blacks made up 8% of corporate hires compared to 5.5% last year, they also had the highest dropout rates.
