Google turned a blind eye to toxic “bro-culture,” lawsuit says

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A Google engineer says she was a frequent target of regular sexual harassment during her seven years at the company. In a lawsuit filed earlier this month, Loretta Lee (no relation) accused the Mountain View company of having a “bro-culture” that was hostile to women—and of doing too little to address the problem.

The lawsuit is the latest headache from a company that has faced complaints from both sides of the culture war. Last year, Google fired engineer James Damore after he wrote a controversial memo arguing that the under-representation of women at the company might be due to women’s lack of interest in computer program. He responded by suing Google for allegedly discriminating against men.

But others have filed lawsuits making the opposite charge: that Google’s culture is too hostile toward women—and to men who spoken out against that culture. Three women sued Google in September, charging that Google had systematically channeled female engineers into less lucrative career paths. A transgender man sued Google earlier this month, contending that his criticism of the Damore memo in internal company discussions had contributed to his dismissal.