Google walkout organizer resigns, alleges the company 'branded me with a kind of scarlet letter'

Claire Stapleton, one of the organizers of the 2018 Google walkout who has alleged she experienced retaliation for her role in the protest, has announced her resignation.

Stapleton, who joined Google in 2007 and worked at YouTube since 2014, announced her exit on Friday. This came after WIRED reported in April that Stapleton in an email said that she had been told she was being demoted two months after the protest. The walkout was a response to Google's handling of sexual harassment cases, including that of Andy Rubin, the Android creator who reportedly received a $90 million exit deal after the company determined a sexual harassment allegation against him to be credible.

After complaining to Google's human resources about her demotion, Stapleton reportedly wrote in the emails, which were also confirmed by ABC News, that "my manager started ignoring me, my work was given to other people, and I was told to go on medical leave, even though I'm not sick." According to WIRED, Stapleton's demotion was ultimately reversed, but she wrote that the "environment remains hostile and I considered quitting every day."

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Now, Stapleton has just done so, writing in an internal note shared on Medium that the "short explanation" is that she's having a baby in the fall but that she "made the choice after the heads of my department branded me with a kind of scarlet letter that makes it difficult to do my job or find another one." She writes that if she stayed, she expected "more public flogging, shunning, and stress."

Stapleton additionally told The Guardian that Google's alleged treatment of her was "designed to have a chilling effect on employees who raise issues or speak out." Google in a statement to Engadget denied these claims, saying that it conducted a "thorough investigation" of Stapleton's allegations "and found no evidence of retaliation."