Earlier this month, a Black employee at Google shared a detailed account of his experience with the company’s security team. Angel Onuoha, an associate product manager at Google, tweeted that he was stopped by two security guards while riding his bike and asked to verify his ID badge. After his initial tweet garnered attention on social media, Onuoha provided more details about his interaction with his employer’s security team.
“A lot of people keep DM’ing me asking for the full story,” the Harvard University graduated added.
“They ended up taking my ID badge away from me later that day and I was told to call security if I had a problem with it. And that was after holding me up for 30 minutes causing me to miss my bus ride home.”
Onuoha’s tweet attracted thousands of users, many of whom were outraged by security’s actions. Others also called attention to the fellow employee that reported him.
“The most disturbing part is that the person who reported you was probably a colleague,” former Microsoft employee Sedat Kapanoğlu replied.
“This happens so much more often than many people realize,” Washington Post Reporter Eugene Scott added.
After Onuoha’s tweet went viral, Google issues a public statement to Forbes.
“We take this employee’s concerns very seriously, are in touch with him and are looking into this. We learned that the employee was having issues with his badge due to an administrative error and contacted the reception team for help. After they were unable to resolve the issue, the security team was called to look into and help resolve the issue,” a spokesperson for Google stated.
“More broadly, one step we’ve taken recently to decrease badging incidents is to make clear that employees should leave investigating these kinds of access concerns 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.”
Onuoha has not commented on the matter publicly as of now.
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