Google breached its own ?don?t be evil? motto, ex-employees? lawsuit claims

A group of former Google employees have sued the company, alleging that it breached their employment contracts by not honoring its famous motto "don't be evil".

In the lawsuit filed in California state court, former Google employees Rebecca Rivers, Sophie Waldman and Paul Duke alleged that they were fired two years ago for fulfilling their contractual obligation to speak up if they saw Google violating its "don't be evil" pledge.

Google has promoted "don't be evil" as a core value for over 20 years, including when it went public in 2004.

The three former Google software engineers had raised concerns at town halls and other forums inside Google about the company potentially selling cloud technology to US immigration authorities.

The workers considered the potential immigration work "evil" under Google's policies, which call for "acting honorably and treating each other with respect" and engaging in "the highest possible standards of ethical business conduct", according to the lawsuit. The company's code of conduct says workers who think the company may be falling short of its commitment should not stay silent, the lawsuit said.

The workers are seeking an unspecified amount of damages.

Google has said that the employees violated data security policies. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new lawsuit.

The three former employees' firings also have led to a National Labor Relations Board trial over whether the company engaged in unfair practices to stem growing worker organizing.