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Google project lead quits, alleging 'corporate racism'

Ashley Ray-Harris said in her letter that she's "not shocked that another talented Black woman [is] leaving Google given the lack of respect shown for us here."

The exterior of a Google office in London

Ashley Ray-Harris, a project lead for Google content, says the company views Black women as "lesser than."

Photo: Future Publishing/Getty Images

Ashley Ray-Harris, a project lead for Google content creation, quit the company, saying in an email to Google that she encountered "some of the worst bureaucratic, corporate racism" that she "ever experienced."

"At a certain point I realized that even if you find a team that makes you feel welcomed, we still work within a company that views Black women as lesser than even as we sacrifice our mental health and work/life balance for this company," Ray-Harris wrote in her resignation letter, which she posted to Twitter on Friday evening.

Ray-Harris added in her letter that she's "not shocked that another talented Black woman [is] leaving Google given the lack of respect shown for us here." Employees identifying as Black or Latinx quit Google at higher rates in 2020 compared to 2019, based on the company's diversity report released earlier this month. Last year, two Black female leaders at Google were also ousted, setting off a wave of support for both former workers who said they also dealt with racism within the company.

"The 'goodbye google' letter is sent. [I'm] free," she tweeted alongside her resignation letter. Ray-Harris also performs stand-up comedy and runs a podcast called "TV, I Say" and an accompanying newsletter, which she said she would continue.

Neither Ray-Harris nor Google immediately returned a request for comment.

Correction: This story was updated to correct Ashley Ray-Harris's last name and to clarify her position at Google.

Sarah Roach

Sarah (Sarahroach_) writes for Source Code at Protocol. She's based in Boston and can be reached at sroach@protocol.com

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