Paresh David

(Reuters) – California’s civil right regulator is looking into Google’s treatment Black female employees following alleged harassment and discrimination. According to two sources familiar with the matter, and emails sent by the agency that were seen by Reuters, these people are Reuters’ colleagues.

The sources and documents show that several Black women have been interviewed by lawyers and analysts of the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing about their experiences at Alphabet Inc. Sources spoke anonymously to protect their work.

According to emails, questions have focused on workplace harassment and discrimination. According to one source, conversations have been held as recent as last month.

DFEH refused to comment.

Google stated that it is focused upon “building sustainable equity for its Black workers” and that 2020 was the largest year it had for hiring “Black+” workers. This designation includes people of multiple races.

It stated that its goal was to make Google a welcoming workplace for all employees. “We’ll continue to focus on this important work and thoroughly investigate any concerns, to make sure our workplace is representative and equitable.”

According to people, DFEH interviewed both workers who had filed formal complaints as well as those who did not. This showed that regulators are looking for more evidence of possible mistreatment.

The agency has been involved in litigations against Tencent Holdings, Riot Games and Activision Blizzard Inc (NASDAQ), alleging harassment and widespread discrimination.

However, not all cases result in criminal charges.

Black tech workers have claimed that they’ve been subject to demeaning comments over the years. They have also reported being denied access to offices by security personnel and coworkers who questioned if they were actually there.

These complaints are increasing as more Black women join the workforce. Seven former and current employees of Google spoke out to Reuters about their experiences with being treated differently by colleagues from different backgrounds and marginalized in projects.

Timnit Gebru, an artificial intelligence researcher has claimed that Google fired her last year for criticizing the company’s lack of diversity in its workforce and fighting against managers for publishing a paper she wrote. Erika Munro, who was responsible for the diversity and strategy departments at Google, resigned in January.

According to data from Google, workers who identified as Black+ female left Google last year at the fastest rate of any other racial-gender group than Native “American+” female. Last year, Google stated that it would increase retention through increased support staffing.