Deaf Black Employee Jalon Hall Files Discrimination Lawsuit Against Google

Jalon Hall, Google’s only Black Deaf employee, has claimed mistreatment and discrimination at the company and has filed a lawsuit.

Hall’s Story

As reported by the WIRED, in 2020, Hall, an enthusiastic criminal justice master’s graduate, was surprised to receive a LinkedIn message about a job opportunity at Google.

Despite her initial skepticism, the offer was genuine, and Hall was soon hired to join Wolverine, a new in-house team tasked with moderating YouTube videos. 

Her journey to this role was untraditional, as her previous job was at a law firm, where she delved into discrimination cases.. 

According to Wired, Black or disabled employees like Hall represent small minorities within the company. 

Where Things Began To Change

For Hall, the promise of being provided with a sign language interpreter, as mentioned in her hiring process, quickly faded.

Her role in the company started to shift from her initial responsibilities, and she faced challenges that made her question the reality behind the corporation’s diversity campaigns.

Despite these adversities, Hall continued to work at Google, moving into a role focusing on the responsible use of AI. 

Yet, she could not ignore the discrepancies between Google’s public declarations of inclusivity and her personal experiences. 

Hall felt that while Google showcased her as an exemplar of diversity, they failed to adequately support her needs, leading to allegations of racism and audism, a form of discrimination against the deaf or hard of hearing.

Google’s portrayal of Hall in their marketing efforts did not align with her lived reality at the company. 

They celebrated her role in making Google more inclusive for the Black Deaf community. Still, internally, she struggled with access to necessary accommodations like sign language interpreters and faced delayed improvements to essential tools.

Halls Lawsuit

In response to these challenges, Hall filed three HR complaints, which she felt were not adequately addressed. 

This led her to take legal action against Google in December, alleging discrimination based on her race and disability. 

The company’s response to her lawsuit focused on procedural grounds, including the timeliness of her claims, but did not directly deny her accusations.

Hall’s story is not just personal; it mirrors larger trends within Google and the tech industry.

Other Black women, like AI researcher Timnit Gebru and recruiter April Christina Curley, have also alleged they faced similar issues at Google.