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A former Google exec is suing the company, saying a coworker sexually harassed and drunkenly berated him

Stephanie Stacey   

A former Google exec is suing the company, saying a coworker sexually harassed and drunkenly berated him
Tech2 min read
  • A former Google exec is blaming his termination from the company on discrimination and retaliation.
  • Ryan Olohan says Google had failed to act on his complaints about a coworker's sexual advances.

A former Google executive is suing the company in New York, saying a coworker sexually harassed and drunkenly berated him on numerous occasions.

Ryan Olohan, formerly Google's managing director of food, beverage, and restaurants, filed a complaint against Google in November alleging sexual harassment, gender discrimination, race discrimination, and retaliation. The suit names Tiffany Miller, Google's director of programmatic media, as a codefendant.

A representative for Miller told Insider the lawsuit was "a fictional account of events filled with numerous falsehoods, fabricated by a disgruntled ex-employee, who was senior to Ms. Miller at Google."

The person added: "Ms. Miller never made any 'advance' toward Mr. Olohan, which witnesses can readily corroborate. Even more disturbing is the overt sexism and racism in Mr. Olohan's efforts to blame others for his termination."

"This employee was terminated with cause after a thorough investigation of complaints by numerous employees," a Google spokesperson told Insider regarding Olohan. "We firmly stand by our decision here and we will vigorously defend ourselves against these claims."

Olohan, a New Jersey resident, says in the complaint, which was first reported by Bloomberg, that he suffered workplace retaliation by Miller after rejecting advances from her and reporting them to Google's human-resources department.

The complaint says that during a company dinner at the Fig & Olive restaurant in Manhattan in December 2019, Miller approached Olohan and rubbed his stomach, telling him he had "such a nice body."

The complaint also accuses Miller, who is Asian, of telling Olohan, who is white and married to an Asian woman, that "her marriage lacked 'spice'" and "she knew he liked Asian women." It says Olohan was left feeling "uncomfortable" and "immediately removed himself from the situation."

Olohan reported the incident to Google's human-resources department the next week but no action resulted, the complaint says. The complaint says Miller "began to retaliate" against Olohan, criticizing him to coworkers and complaining to human resources of "microaggressions" by him.

The complaint says Miller was "openly hostile" to Olohan in December 2021 at an off-site work event, where it says she "drunkenly rebuked him at a table in front of numerous Google employees." It says Miller apologized the next day, saying she'd been "very drunk."

"Although Google was aware that Miller's continued harassment of Olohan stemmed from his rejection of her sexual advances, it again took no action," the complaint says.

The complaint says that at a work event at a karaoke bar in April of last year, Miller "mocked Olohan when he arrived late to the event and asked if he was at the gym again, building his muscles," and "told Olohan that she knew he preferred Asian women to white women."

Olohan's employment at Google was terminated on August 5, per the complaint. The complaint says Google "discriminated against Olohan and subjected him to adverse employment actions including, but not limited to, terminating his employment."

It says Olohan is seeking unspecified damages over claims of economic loss, including past and future lost earnings, and emotional distress.

January 30, 2023, 2:45 p.m. ET: This story has been updated to include a comment from Google.


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