THE CASE OF THE AGE OF GOOGLE

Based on Reid v. Google, Inc. (2007) 66 Cal.Rptr,3d 744

[It is July 24, 2004 in San Jose, California.Brian Reid, age 54, is the now-former Director of Operations and former Director of Engineering at Google.The conversations with Mr. Reid are taking place in retrospect and took place when he was in their midst.]

Brian:I don't know what I was thinking when I applied in the spring of 2002 to head Google's operations and engineering department.It's not that I had any doubts of my qualifications for the job.I didn't.I hold a Ph.D. in Computer Science and am a former associate professor of electrical engineering at Stanford.Mr. Rosing over there [indicates to Wayne Rosing] was himself 53.

Wayne:Well, Brian, I'm happy to offer you the job with our company and I am confident that you will do a splendid job given your credentials.I'm glad mine won't be the only gray hair around here any longer.

Brian: Things started off so well.But I had heard about the youthful focus of the company and it wasn't too long before I started hearing this from 38 year-old executive Urs Hoezle [pronounced "Hoe - Zull"], to whom I reported in addition to reporting to Mr. Rosing, when I offered suggestions on projects:

Urs Hoelzle: Your ideas are obsolete, Brian, and too old to matter.

Brian:Every few weeks Urs would make comments like:

Urs:You're slow, fuzzy, and lethargic, Brian.You don't display a sense of urgency and lack the energy we're accustomed to seeing around here.

Brian:Other younger employees called me this when they'd see me in the halls:

Google Employee 2:Hey, old man.Hey, old guy.

Brian:Other employees occasionally joked.

Google Employee 3:Hey, you old fuddy-duddy.Your knowledge is so ancient that your CD jewel case office placard should be an LP rather than a CD.

Brian:It was when Wayne Rosing gave me my first and only written performance review three months shy of my one year anniversary with the company that my fears about the Google culture started to be confirmed.Sure, most of the review was good:

Wayne:Brian has an extraordinarily broad range of knowledge concerning Operations, Engineering and an aptitude and orientation toward operational and IT issues.He projects confidence when dealing with fast changing situations.Brian is very intelligent, creative, and a problem solver.The vast majority of the functions of the operations department that he heads run great.

Brian:Mr. Rosing's bottom-line evaluation of my performance was:

Wayne:Consistently meets expectations.

Brian:That's just average, about a C.But I did receive a bonus and 12,750 stock options.Still, Mr. Rosing included this troubling statement in my performance review:

Wayne: Adapting to the Google culture is the primary task for the first year here.Right or wrong, Google is simply different:Younger contributors, inexperienced first line managers, and the super fast pace are just a few examples of the environment.

Brian:I guess it should have come as no surprise to me when, in October 2003, 16 months after I joined the company, Mr. Rosing called me into his office.

Wayne:Brian, effective immediately I'm removing you from the Director of Operations position and removing your responsibilities and reports as Director of Engineering.Urs Hoezle told me he thought this was a good idea and you will now report to him as well as reporting to me.Ultimately, it was my decision, though.Now, you'll keep your title as Director of Engineering, but from now on you will be in a new role at Google to develop and implement a new program aimed at retaining engineers by enabling them to obtain a master's degree in engineering by attending courses taught by Carnegie-Mellon University professors here at Google.Given your background in academia, that program's a perfect fit for your talents.

Brian:I asked Eric Schmidt, our 47 year-old CEO who joined Mr. Rosing and me in the meeting, about this program and was told:

Schmidt:I assure you that the company considers this program important and we expect your work on it to last another five years.Of course, you'll have no budget or staff to operate the program, beyond what we pay the professors.

Brian:When I asked Mr. Rosing who would be taking over my old job responsibilities, he said:

Wayne:Glad you asked.Urs will be taking over as Director of Operations and Doug Merrill will assume the duties you used to perform in engineering.

Brian:Urs is 15 years younger than I am and Doug is 20 years younger than I am.I'm sure that's just a coincidence.I later learned I would be getting a zero bonus for my work in 2003.Professor Norman Matloff, a statistician with 30 years experience that I hired later concluded, after reviewing the age of director-level employees like me in relation to the performance rating and bonus we received from the company:

Prof. Matloff:First, there is a statistically significant negative correlation between age and performance rating.Specifically, I have found that for every 10 year increase in age, there was a corresponding decrease in performance rating.Second, there is a statistically significant negative correlation between age and bonus.There is a 29 percent decrease in bonus amount related to every 10 year increase in age.

Brian:I also learned that, three months after I was stripped of my former job duties and given this new assignment, Mr. Schmidt sent an e-mail to Mr. Rosing asking for:

Schmidt:A proposal from you on getting Brian out.

Brian:That was also three months after he personally assured me that the program I was being asked to head was expected to last five years and was considered important to the company.Mr. Rosing responded to Mr. Schmidt's e-mail by saying:

Wayne:I am having second thoughts about the full zero out of Brian's $14K bonus versus treating it consistent with all similarly situated performers.I suggest we give him $11,300, in addition to some other terms of a severance agreement to avoid a judge concluding we acted harshly.

Brian:February 13, 2004, the following month.I'll never forget that day.I was called into Mr. Rosing's office and he said:

Wayne:Brian, we have decided you are not a cultural fit for us here at Google.

Brian:I asked Mr. Rosing whether Larry Page, our 29 year-old co-founder, made the decision to terminate me.

Wayne:[Nods his head yes, but says nothing.]There's no longer a place for you here in the engineering department, but you are free to check other departments in the company.

Brian:Turns out, there were e-mails flying around the other departments freezing me out.There was this e-mail from Shona Brown, Vice President of Business Operations, who e-mailed her staff:

Shona:You should make sure I am appropriately prepped.My line at the moment is that there is no role for him in the HR organization.

Brian:There was this e-mail from HR Director Julie Sullivan to Mr. Rosing and Ms. Brown:

Julie:Seems Reid's first interest is to continue to work on the college programs he's been working on.He'll explore that option first with both of you.I propose that Brown meet with Shona this Tuesday and let him know there's no role for him in her organization.I've talked with CFO George Reyes.He will not have an option for Brian.This is the Company Decision.We'll all agree on the job elimination angle.

Brian:Mr. Rosing now says that the program I had headed was being eliminated, but he never told me that was why I was being terminated.All I was told was that I wasn't a "cultural fit."Shona Brown used those same words:"not a cultural fit."Not a cultural fit.I know what that means and today I filed a lawsuit against Google so that the company will pay for maintaining a culture that discards people over the age of 50.Call it my Google search for justice.

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