Questions Raised by Google's Firing of Employee Who Criticized Diversity Policy

A software engineer working for Google wrote a lengthy memo contending that the lack of more women working for the company is due to basic gender differences between men and women that make women less capable of succeeding at tech jobs. Therefore, he argued, the company was wrong to have a diversity policy that encouraged the hiring of more women. The memo quickly spread throughout the company and to the media. Google immediately fired the memo writer—which raises the question of what speech is protected in a union‐free environment.