A former Google employee has accused the tech giant of firing him after he rejected a woman executive’s alleged advances, according to a lawsuit filed in November. Ryan Olohan claimed that Tiffany Miller felt him up during a company dinner at Chelsea, Manhattan, in December 2019, The New York Post reported.
Olohan, 48, said Miller, director of Google’s programmatic media, groped Olohan’s torso, complimented his body, and told him her marriage was devoid of “spice”, the lawsuit states.
Miller, an Asian, also informed him that she knew he had an affinity towards Asian women, Olohan’s wife being of the same race. The company meet, involving alcohol, reportedly took place at Fig & Olive soon after Olohan’s promotion as managing director of food, beverages, and restaurants. Miller was also a part of his new team.
The married father of seven said that “he immediately removed himself from the situation”, which made him “extremely uncomfortable” and escalated it to the human resources department the following week. The HR department failed to take any action and he was apparently told that if a female was complaining against a White male for harassment, the matter would be escalated. In reference to the 2019 incident, when Olohan suggested that Miller may have drunk too much, his colleagues commented that it’s just “Tiffany being Tiffany”.
Olohan also accused Miller of false complaints against him for “microaggressions” in retaliation for reporting the 2019 incident to HR, which caused him anxiety. Olohan continued to face hostility as he was publicly reprimanded by an inebriated Miller at a Google event in December 2021. Although Miller apologised, she repeated the same behaviour at a bar in April 2022. Olohan’s lawsuit accuses Google of taking no action despite knowing that “Miller’s harassment stemmed from his rejection of her sexual advances”.
Olohan said that he started facing increasing pressure from his supervisor and in July 2022, he was asked to sack a male worker to bring in a woman employee. Google fired Olohan the next month ending his 16-year association with the company.
The reasons stated for Olohan’s firing were that he was “non-inclusive” by being biased towards high-performers and “ableist” for commenting on employees’ “walking pace”.
The New York Post quoted a spokesperson for Miller as rejecting all the allegations. Olohan’s lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and accuses both Google and Miller of discrimination, retaliation, and a hostile work environment. The former Google employee is currently executive vice president of growth at the Klick Group.