James Damone and Google's Sexism and Diversity

Silicon Valley has a reputation for discriminating against women in the technical and executive ranks. Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook and Meg Whitman of HP are exceptions, but an overall look at Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google/Alphabet, and Microsoft shows male heavy employment. Google is roughly 80% male, mostly Caucasian and Asian, in its tech ranks, and 75% in leader positions. It is also fighting a federal investigation that claims it underpays women. Only 23% of Apple’s tech staff and 17% of FaceBook’s are female. The HBO series Silicone Valley focuses on men and gives actresses a secondary role. James Damone failed to understand that diversity of thought does not exist in the Academy, Hollywood, or Silicone Valley. Thought is fine as long as it comports with the accepted orthodoxy, which George Orwell/William H. White, Jr. called Group think, policed by the Thought Police. He penned a memo entitled: “Google’s Ideological Echo Chamber.” His memo cites several studies that show men and women think differently; that men are into things and women into people. He wrote that women in general have more empathy and neuroticism than men. His problem in the memo is that he stepped into the Harvard President Lawrence Summer’s infamous question: “Why are there fewer women in science?” James Damone answered that biological differences play a role in the lack of women in tech positions at Google. President Summer’s provocative answers cost him the Presidency of Harvard. He posited that innate or biological differences between men and women could explain the lack of female success in science and math. Married women with children might be unwilling to spend the long hours necessary for advancement. Let me add anecdotally that after 45 years of teaching law I have seen many incredible young women do it all: marriage, children, and the practice of law. Let me add that I have also seen many incredible young women sacrifice the practice of law to their family, raising children. I have not seen many incredible, young male lawyers sacrifice the law to be Mr. Mom. James Damone was careful to note that generalities do not apply to individuals, but he questioned the shibboleth of diversity and diversity training for the sake of diversity. He was concerned that Google’s diversity efforts were misdirected and ineffective, accompanied by the company’s “politically correct monoculture.” He wanted to start a dialogue within the company. The rigidity of thought in Silicon Valley is amazing because the Valley exemplifies the success of capitalism free from government regulation and rigidity. The orthodoxy leads to the Obama Administration trying to regulate the internet under. the guise of net neutrality. The Obama Administration through FBI Director James Comey tried to force Apple to unlock its users’ IPhones. Statism, the antithesis of capitalism, is how the EU is mugging Google, Apple, and other American innovative companies. Sundar Pichai, Google CEO overreacted by publicly firing Damone and then stating “We strongly believe in Googlers expressing themselves,” but Damone violated company policy “by advancing harmful gender stereotypes in our workplace.” He added: “To suggest a group of our colleagues have traits that make them less biologically suited to such work is offensive and not O.K.” That’s not what James Damone wrote. I’m sure the Google lawyers grimaced when they heard the CEO’s remarks. The standard statement for legal reasons is “We do not discuss personnel matters.” The United States follows the “employment at will” doctrine whereby absent a contract or legal restriction, such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, an employer can terminate an employee at any time for any reason, or no reason. In addition, the Freedom of Speech guarantees of the First Amendment only apply to the government and not to private parties. James Damone, like most employees, could thus be fired for his remarks without any legal cause of action. He wrote after his firing: “As far as I know, I have a legal right to express my concerns about the terms and conditions of my working environment and to bring up potentially illegal behavior, which is what my document does.” Actually he doesn’t. However, when CEO Pichai publicly accused Damone of violating Google’s Code of Conduct, a cause of action for defamation could be pled, followed by extensive discovery. The process will be very painful for Google. Management has made it clear to Googlers that they are not to question the company’s diversity program. Damone’s memo was in response to that attitude. Some Google employees made it clear that they will record the names of fellow employees who support Damone or oppose the company’s diversity efforts, and then blacklist them. The new rule at Google is Group Thought. The merits of Damone’s memo are debatable, some saying it’s well researched and others questioning the research, as you might expect on such a volatile subject. Lost in the debate is that Damone was careful about warning against broad generalizations. Damone’s memo decried stereotyping, but that got lost in the coverage of his memo. I believe in judging people on their individual merits. The computing industry shows a number of women engineers who have achieved greatness, including Admiral Grace Hopper and NASA’s Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson and the other African American "computers" in Alabama made famous in Hidden Figures. They triumphed under incredible stress, starting with the deep racism in the South. Google’s problem is that James Damone started a dialogue, but CEO Pichai poured fuel on the fire by terminating James Dimone. Google will need to settle with James Damone for a large sum once the lawsuit is filed. The continuing debate will be costly to Google, not in monetary terms, but in employee morale and publicity. Google will become the punching bag for Silicon Valley sexism.

Sex Discrimination in the Airline Industry Revisited 47 Years Later: Air India's 30 Year Old Anna Divya is the World's Youngest Boeing 777 Pilot

I smile when I see female pilots walking through airports. I don’t smile as often as I would like because they are still a rarity. Anna Divya, a 30 year old pilot for Air India, is now the youngest pilot, pilot – not co-pilot, pilot – not flight engineer, pilot – not flight attendant, of a Boeing 777. She has a large smile on her face. She accomplished her childhood dream of becoming a pilot. But why do I smile? It goes back to the summer of 1969. I was hired as a legal clerk for the 2 man firm of Darwin & Riordan in San Francisco. Jay Darwin was a pioneering labor law attorney going back to the days of the New Deal. One of the firm’s clients was Jan Dietrich (1926-2008), a well-qualified woman pilot. Jan and her twin sister Marion were among the group of 13 women, the Gemini 13, privately financed to complete the same tests as NASA’s Gemini 7 astronauts. The odds are that NASA never expected at that time that any of these women would be flown into space, but it was good publicity. Jan sought employment with Oakland based Word Airways, a charter operation. World denied Jan a position despite her qualifications because she was a woman. The airline told Jan the public wants pilots to be “tall, gray-haired men.” Unfortunately for World Airways, Congress had enacted title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII forbad discrimination in employment based on sex, race, color, religion or national origin. The southern Senators tossed “sex” into the statute, hoping it would cause defeat of the bill aimed at racial discrimination in employment. They miscalculated. The bar on sex discrimination in employment is highly popular. The case settled on the courthouse steps with Jan flying for World Airways. My assignment was to do substantial research on the case. The research also led to a Labor Law Seminar paper my last semester in Law school. One of the sources of information for the paper in spring 1970 was the Soviet Embassy in Washington. I knew women pilots flew for Aeroflot and the Russian military. The embassy responded to my request with some published material, which I could quote. I don’t have any of the legal file on the case, but I also remember an affidavit by a retired brigadier general. He wrote women could not be relied upon in flying commercial airlines because once a month …. You get the drift. Far more pervasive and pernicious than the airline bans on woman pilots were their restrictions on stewardesses, and stewards, all now called flight attendants. Many of the domestic airlines were marketing glamorous young, single female stewardesses as the reason to fly their airline. “We really move our tail for you” was one such slogan for Continental Airlines. Another was “I’m Jo, Fly me” for National Airlines. Braniff Airlines promoted the designer dresses of their stewardesses. Here’s a quick summary of the restrictions: No male stewards, except on international flights. All stewardesses must retire at age 35. Stewardesses could not be married or marry. Pregnancy was verboten. Delta Airlines was an exception. Its stewardesses could make a career of flying for Delta. The flight attendant unions fought the restrictions and with the new Title VII behind them ultimately defeated them. My seminar paper was accepted for publication by the law review at the University of California Berkeley. The cite is “Sex Discrimination in the Airline Industry: Title VII Flying High,” 59 Cal. L. Rev. 1091 (1971). The article begins: “Women have historically been relegated to a secondary role in life. Contemporary experience suggests that they may become legal secretaries, but rarely lawyers, secondary school teachers, but rarely university professors, airline stewardesses, but never pilots. The purpose of this article is to argue, based on examples of sexual discrimination in the airline industry, that society can and must change these existing patterns of unequal employment opportunities.” I am still proud of the wording of this intro. Ironically, the section on female pilots was edited out because of the length of the article. If any of the few readers of this blog are interested, I can send them an earlier draft of the article. Anna Divya, I salute you and Air India.

Have You Heard About the Trump Administration Assisting Ukraine Yesterday? Probably not?

Have you heard about the Trump Admin The ironies of 2017! The Trump Campaign has been accused of colluding with the Russians to defeat Hillary Clinton. The Clinton Campaign has been accused of colluding with the Ukrainians to defeat Donald Trump. The Russians announced the other day that they are kicking out 755 U.S. diplomats as Congress increases sanctions on Russia. President Trump said he will sign the Bill. So much for the alleged Trump-Russia détente! President Reagan ran the “Bear” Commercial in his 1984 reelection campaign against Vice President Walter Mondale: “There is a bear in the woods. For some people, the bear is easy to see. Others don’t see it at all. Some people say the bear is tame. Others say he is vicious and dangerous. Since no one can really be sure who’s right, isn’t it smart to be a strong as the bear? – If there is a bear.” The Russian Bear hibernated after the fall of the Soviet Union. President Obama and his fellow Democrats refused to see the bear even when it was staring them in the face having emerged from hibernation. Governor Romney said during the 2012 Presidential debates that Russia is the greatest geopolitical foe of the United States. President Obama had a pithy response: “The 1980’s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because, you know, the Cold War has been over for 20 years.” He was caught on a hot mic before the election, telling Russia President Dmitri Medvedev that “After my election, I have more flexibility.” The media, which is so intent with its daily linking President Trump to a non-existent Russia collaboration, gave President Obama a pass. Russia invaded Georgia in August 2008, seizing South Ossetia and Abkhazia near the end of the Bush Administration. Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014 seizing full control of the Crimea, and sponsoring with Russian soldiers, tanks and armored vehicles Russia based “separatists” in the Doneysk, Luhansk, and Dombass regions of eastern Ukraine. Russia had violated the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances when it invaded Ukraine. Ukraine inherited a large army and supply of nuclear weapons when it achieved independence from the collapsing Soviet Union. As part of the nuclear non-proliferation movement, which has otherwise been a failure in Iran and North Korea, Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal in exchange for assurances of territorial integrity from Russia. It also leased Sevastopol in the Crimea to Russia for the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Ukraine traded its leverage for hallow promises from the Russian Bear, an erstwhile teachable moment. Russia is currently massing troops in “maneuvers” along both the Ukrainian border and the Baltic nations. President Obama responded to the Russian invasion of Ukraine by sending the Ukrainians MRE’s (meals ready to eat) when they requested military assistance. They are currently receiving some Humvees and drones from the United States. The Defense Department and State Department announced yesterday that they are considering sending defensive weapons to the Ukrainians; i.e. anti-tank weapons. The final decision would be up to President Trump. Russia quit Afghanistan when surface to air missiles started shooting their helicopters out of the air. The United States has many ways to make Russia pay for its naked aggression. The President also announced yesterdaythe sale of 700,000 tons of Pennsylvania thermal coal to Ukraine, displacing Russian coal. President Obama practiced a foreign policy of leading from behind, if not outright appeasement on occasion. President Trump has an activist approach to America’s foreign policy.

Memo to Anthony Scaramucci, General Stanley McChrystal, et al

Memo to Anthony Scaramucci and General Stanley McChrystal The media is not your friend. “Off the record” is not off the record if it would embarrass you or a conservative administration. It’s only off the record if you don’t say it. The reporters get kudos and awards. You get the boot. Check out Secretary of the Interior James Watt, who got a boot, but kept his job. Memo to Trumpanistas: “The mainstream media is at war with the Trump Administration. It is unconditional war on their part. It will only end if President Trump resigns or is impeached, at which point they will then attempt to destroy President Pence.” Even your friends may reveal your statements. Secretary of Agriculture Early Butz resigned 4 decades ago because John Dean, the disgraced John Dean, published in Rolling Stone Magazine a crude, highly offensive racist joke. Finally, understand that anyone may tape your remarks on a smart phone, any time, any place, even in closed, friendly audiences, such as campaign fundraisers. Memo to Scaramucci, McChrystal, Butz, Romney, Obama, et al, “Zipper Your Lips!” If you can’t zipper your lips, then temper your remarks. You just never know!

The Bare Facts About Bare Ass on the Bare Fare Spirit Airlines

Jack Webb in Dragnet: “Just the facts, ma’am.” Here are the bare facts about bare ass on bare fare Spirit Airlines. An unnamed passenger caught the spirit of Spirit Airlines by barring it all in boarding the airline. No fig leaf No pasties No shame The media won’t report if it is a he or she, so I will prefer to the person as “he/she/it.” He/she/it boarded in Las Vegas for a flight to Oakland. We can safely assume he/she/it is not an Oakland raiders fan. They loudly overdress rather than underdress. We can safely assume he/she/it did not lose its shirt in Vegas because he/she/it was wearing it before embarking and disrobing. Perhaps he/she/it was mistaken about a gig. We can safely assume he/she/it either caught the Spirit of Spirit, which painted “Home of the BARE FARE” on an engine, or the letter of Bare Fare. One must bare it all to get the bare fare. Spirit is known for its cheap fares, its bare fares, but you pay for everything else except one 16” X 14” X 12” carry on, personal bag and oxygen. Spirit would charge for the air if it could. Spirit’s charges are a caricature of the larger airlines’ fees. Want to print out a boarding pass at the airport kiosk, that’s $2. Want a reserved seat, pay for it. Want to sit with your family, pay for reserved seats. Want an upgrade, pay for it Want to check in luggage, pay by the dimensions and weight. How much? Go to Spirit’s “Bag-O-Tron” and prepay No refunds On a family vacation? Bikes, golf bags, skis, scuba equipment are oversized luggage. Pay extra. Want to carry on a bag to stow overhead, pay for it. Thirsty? Buy a drink Hungry? Pay for a snack Want to fly standby, that’s cost you with no guarantees Nothing though in Spirit’s rules of carriage about passengers with lice. Presumably they can come aboard if they are attached to members of the family. Delta kicked the whole family off the plane. Good for Delta! He/she/it proves that what doesn’t go in Vegas may still stay in Vegas But where’s the video?

The Senate Republicans Have Effectively Advanced the Single Payer Option, and Other ObamaCare Thoughts

The Republicans said give us the House and we can do something. They got the House in 2010 and did little. The Republicans said give us the House and Senate and we can do something. They gained and Senate in 2014 and did nothing. The Republicans said give us the House, Senate and Presidency, and then they could act They got the House, Senate, and Presidency in 2016, and now they would act. Let me rephrase it pursuant to the Kiss Theorem: Give us the House! Give us the Senate! Give us the Presidency! Give up!!!!!! The Senate Republicans rejected all changes to ObamaCare, the single most important factor in the Republican rise over the past seven years. They risk fading into oblivion and meaninglessness, as ObamaCare accelerates the road to implosion. The only solution then with our current healthcare system shattered will be single payer. Single payer can be highly seductive, just as socialism. Get rid of the avaricious insurance companies and let the efficiency of a single payer take over. To see how single payer would work, look to the Veterans Administration. Look to the Indian Health Service, which rivals the VA with poor health service. Look to the Army’s fabled, flagship Walter Reed Hospital, which closed in 2011, because it was physically dilapidated. The single payer will be a large, ever growing federal bureaucracy, protected against sloth and incompetence by civil service rules, and which will be unionized by the next Democratic President. Think of England’s National Health System, which is the largest employer in England, and the fifth largest in the world with 1.4 million employees. The Senators who fought change in 2017 are not up for reelection in 2018. What do they care? Four years is an eternity in politics. They must believe the Republican voters are stupid with short memories. The GOP is the party of the elephant and not the donkey. The Republicans voted in a meaningless gesture for seven years to repeals the reviled ObamaCare. Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and John McCain of Arizona ran ads against ObamaCare. Senator Murkowski sponsored several bills to limit ObamaCare. That was then; this is now. Their votes matter now; every vote matters. Hypocrisy; they got cold feet when it mattered. Senator McCain has a reputation as a maverick. He is, but he is also consistent in one respect. He respects the civility, dignity and bipartisanship of the Senate compared to the raucous House. Note to Senator McCain. Those days are history, destroyed by President Obama and then Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. The Republicans are criticized for not cooperating with Democrats on their attempts to deal with the Act. The Democrats, having 60 Senate votes in 2010, totally ignored the Republicans in drafting and enacting ObamaCare. It goes back even further. President Obama and the Democrats enacted their Stimulus Bill in 2009, totaling ignoring the Republicans. They didn’t even throw them a bone. Senator Reid further destroyed the decorum of the Senate by eliminating the filibuster on federal judges, except for the Supreme Court. He further limited amendments on bills the democrats wanted enacted. Senators Lindsay Graham and John McCain said before the last vote that they could not support the “skinny” Senate proposal as the final bill, but wanted assurances from the House that it would go to conference for changes. Speaker Paul Ryan gave those assurances. Senator McCain voted against it anyway and is now back in Arizona undergoing cancer treatment. Here’s what the Republicans could not even do: Repeal ObamaCare outright? No Repeal and replace ObamaCare? No Adopt block grants leaving more discretion to the states on implementing the Medicaid extension? No Repeal the reviled individual mandate? No Repeal the employer mandate? No Repeal at least the medical devices tax? No They couldn’t pass any measure, fat, lean, skinny to at least get to a House-Senate Conference Committee. The Senate couldn’t even live up to its reputation as the world’s greatest deliberate body. They debated little behind closed doors. The Republicans spent seven years listening to horror stories about ObamaCare: high premiums, high deductibles, limited networks, loss of existing insurers and medical providers. They’d heard the blowback in recent months from ObamaCare beneficiaries who fear losing their existing coverage. Their fears are real, but not realistic. The House Republicans made it clear that the current Medicaid beneficiaries would be protected. The opponents were loud, jamming the Congressional open houses back home. The protests were often organized, as they were during the Presidential campaign. Many Republicans were spooked. Now they’re hearing the blowback from their base, letting them have it. Now they’re facing the threat of President Trump to throw them onto ObamaCare, as I blogged on July 14. The Republicans should have held public hearings with witness after witness telling horror stories reminding the American people of why they detest ObamaCare. A rumor is that Senator McConnell asked President Trump to stay out of the negotiations prior to the votes. I don’t know if that’s true, but if is, then the President have further reason to be upset. Another observation is yet again the false conclusions of the “non-partisan” Congressional Budget Office, which said the skinny bill would cause 14 million Americans to lose health coverage. Absolutely false! See May 26 blog. They count as those “losing” coverage Americans, especially the young healthy Americans, who don’t want ObamaCare, and persons who prospectively would be ineligible if the loosened requirements for Medicaid would be tightened somewhat. Finally, let the American people understand that Medicaid does not = medical care. Providers are increasingly leery of taking Medicaid patients because of the low rates – another harbinger of a single payer system in the United States. Hispanics in san Jose, California have filed suit because they are enrolled in MediCal (California’s version of Medicaid), but unable to obtain coverage. This is what 51 Republican Senators voted to perpetuate!

Is Claremont McKenna's President Hiram R. Chodosh this Generation's Father Hesburgh?

The 1960’s and early 1970’s witnessed demonstrations and violence on our campuses, starting with the Free Speech Movement at Berkeley in 1964. Anti-Vietnam War fueled most of the subsequent demonstrations, riots and sit-ins, followed by Kent State and Cambodia in 1970. Other causes were the CIA, Dow Chemical, disinvestment in South Africa, and civil rights. Berkeley, Cornell, Harvard, Dartmouth, UCLA, Maryland, Indiana, San Francisco State, Kent State, Dartmouth. University leaders were seemingly helpless, although supine is a better word. The great Catholic University of Notre Dame was not immune to the student’s outpouring of rage. The campus experienced demonstrations, sit-ins, and student strikes. Notre Dame’s President Father Theodore Hesburgh led the University for 35 years, guiding it into a great academic institution. Father Hesburgh was sympathetic to the students. He also opposed the war. He believed in academic freedom. He issued a letter on February 17, 1969. His words were clear and simple. He promulgated the 15 minute rule: “Anyone or group that substitutes force for rational persuasion, be it violent or non-violent, will be given fifteen minutes of meditation to cease and desist.” They would then be asked for their ID and face suspension. They would be expelled if they persisted for another five minutes. Decisive leadership! His intent was to preserve freedom of speech and a diversity of expression at Notre Dame in a peaceful manner. The past two years has witnessed a return to riots, sit-ins on our campuses, starting with the University of Missouri, a state with underlying racial issues from Ferguson. Allegations of racism led to protests. The losing football team joined the protests, supported by their coach. Melissa Click, a communications professor, became the public face of the protesters as she was caught on video asking for some ”muscle” to muzzle against a student reporter. The University of Missouri has encountered a large backlash among students, potential students, parents, and alumni. Freshmen enrollment has plunged 35% in two years. Overall enrollment has dropped 7.4%. Faculty have been laid off, dorms closed, and the Republican legislature reducing funding. Professor Click was terminated. The craven response at Missouri was the resignation of the President and Provost, thereby emboldening the left both at the University of Missouri and nationally. Claremont McKenna students last year blocked the entrance hall in which Wall Street Journal columnist and Thomas S. Smith Fellow at the Manhattan Institute Heather MacDonald was scheduled to appear. Ms. MacDonald is a staunch supporter of police and has criticized Black Lives Matter for its anti-police rhetoric and actions. She has published “The War on Cops: How the New Attack on Law and Order Makes Everyone Less Safe.” Social media was used to shut down her event, calling her an “anti-Black Fascist.” Police led her into the near empty lecture hall for livestreaming. Her speech was interrupted by protestors banging on the windows. University President Hiram R. Chodosh promised disciplinary against the demonstrators. The University fulfilled his promise a few days ago. Five students were suspended and two placed on probation. Four of the students were seniors, whose graduation was postponed pending the completion of their suspensions. Four students from other campuses were barred from non-academic activities on the Claremont McKenna campus. Attorney Nana Gyamfi, lead organizer and co-founder of Justice warriors 4 Black Lives, protested: “Universities should be places where students learn about the power and limitation of civic engagement and this completely shuts that down with the hot-button issues of our current time.” She accused the college of “over reacting to a minor incident” with “cruel and unusual punishment.” Civic engagement does not include the right to violent demonstrations and shutting down speakers one disagrees with. The demonstrators had earlier forced on November 132 the resignation of Dean of Students Mary Spellman who had emailed a Latina student during campus protests seeking greater diversity and concerns about “marginalized” diversity students that she would work to help students who ‘don’t fit out CMC mold” I don’t think she meant it the way it was construed, but she resigned in the uproar that followed. By way of comparison to Claremont McKenna we have Middlebury College in Vermont. Charles Murray, co-author of The Bell Curve, was scheduled to speak on March 2, 2107. He was met with violent demonstrators who assaulted and battered both him and his faculty interlocutor, Professor Allison Stanger. She suffered a concussion as her hair was pulled and neck twisted. No arrests were made. College President Laurie L. Patton promised accountability while issuing a public apology. The college announced sanctions on May 23 against 67 students. The sanctions raged from probation to written sanctions of the students’ transcripts – in short, a slap on the wrist for violent violence resulting in personal injury. No academic discipline has been imposed against the rioters who shut down Milo Yiannopoulos at Berkeley on May 2, 2017. The University, the site of the Free Speech Movement, also muzzled Ann Coulter by denying her a reasonable time and place to speak on April 27, 2017. Yale, Ithaca College, Smith, Evergreen State, have also failed to support academic freedom and administrators. This fall promises to be hot, fueled partially by anti-Trump animus, unless other campuses follow the lead of Claremont McKenna making sure consequences follow violent action and disruption of speech. Peaceful demonstrators are appropriate, but stifling debate through violence is unacceptable.