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James Damore, the Google engineer fired after writing a controversial 3,300-word memo on diversity, is questioning why Google pushed him out when it did.
In an op-ed published on Friday in the Wall Street Journal, Damore wrote that he first circulated his lengthy memo to some people at Google about a month ago. It wasn't until the memo went viral inside Google and was leaked externally last weekend that Google (GOOG) decided to take action, he said. Damore was fired on Monday.
"There was no outcry or charge of misogyny. I engaged in reasoned discussion with some of my peers on these issues, but mostly I was ignored," he wrote, of the initial response to his document.
That changed, he claimed, when "those most zealously committed to the diversity creed" wrote "angry emails" to Google's human resources department and Damore's managers.
"Upper management tried to placate this surge of outrage by shaming me and misrepresenting my document, but they couldn't really do otherwise: The mob would have set upon anyone who openly agreed with me or even tolerated my views," he wrote.
In his memo, Damore slammed Google's "politically correct monoculture" and suggested women may lag behind men in top tech positions because women are less assertive and more neurotic. Google CEO Sundar Pichai and other employees condemned parts of the memo, before Damore was ultimately fired.