A Google executive says he was fired by the tech firm after he rejected the advances of a woman who happens to be one of the company's top executives.
Ryan Olohan, 48, alleges that Google's Tiffany Miller let him go after Miller groped him at a restaurant in December 2019 and told him she knew he was attracted to Asian women, according to a blockbuster federal lawsuit filed on November 30 in Manhattan.
Olohan's lawsuit, which is seeking unspecified damages, names both Google and Miller as defendants. It accuses said defendants of discrimination, retaliation, and fostering a hostile work environment.
According to the legal filing, Miller, director of Google's programmatic media, rubbed Olohan's abs, complimented his body, and told him her marriage lacked "spice," per the New York Post.
The encounter allegedly took place at a company evening out at Fig and Olive on West 13th Street shortly after Olohan was promoted to managing director of food, beverages, and restaurants. He had become part of a new management team which included Miller in Google's Manhattan offices.
Olohan said he was at first reluctant to make anything of the incident because many of his co-workers were drunk. Other Google employees later dismissed the interaction as "Tiffany being Tiffany," according to court papers.
Olohan said he reported the encounter to Google's human resources department the week after, but the complaint never went any further.
The HR rep "openly admitted … that if the complaint was 'in reverse' — a female accusing a white male of harassment — the complaint would certainly be escalated," according to the filing.
According to Olohan, Miller then started criticizing him and reporting him to human resources for "microaggressions," although the complaint does not detail what exactly Miller accused him of.
At a Google event in December 2021, a drunk Miller is said to have called Olohan out in front of his co-workers. As a result, co-workers urged Miller to move to the other end of the table, according to the papers.
Miller later apologized and "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 suit claims.
Drunk again, Miller allegedly scolded Olohan in April 2022 at a company night out at a karaoke bar, where she is said to have mocked the employee, whose wife is Asian, saying she knew he liked Asian women.
Feeling pressure from his supervisor, who told Olohan that there were "obviously too many white guys" on his management team, he was encouraged to let go of a male team member and replace him with a woman.
The month after, Google fired Olohan, ending his tenure after 16 years at the firm.
During a video conference call, Olohan claims the Google Employee Investigations team told him that he was being dismissed because he was not "inclusive."
A spokesman for Miller shared a statement to The Post, vehemently denying the allegations.
"This lawsuit is a fictional account of events filled with numerous falsehoods, fabricated by a disgruntled ex-employee, who was senior to Ms. Miller at Google," the spokesman said. "Ms. Miller never made any ‘advance’ toward Mr. Olohan, which witnesses can readily corroborate."
