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{{Short description|American site reliability engineer and developer advocate}} {{Short description|American software developer and activist}}
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}{{Infobox person {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Liz Fong-Jones | name = Liz Fong-Jones
| image = Liz Fong-Jones at All Things Open workshop.jpg | image = Liz Fong-Jones at All Things Open workshop.jpg
| alt = A women with long black hair, black headphones and dark wire-rimmed glasses looks at the camera. She is wearing a sleeveless purple top and choker-length necklace and is sitting in a gamer chair. | alt = A woman with long black hair, black headphones and dark wire-rimmed glasses looks at the camera. She is wearing a sleeveless purple top and choker-length necklace and is sitting in a gamer chair.
| caption = Fong-Jones in 2020 | caption = Fong-Jones in 2020
| other_names = | other_names =
| birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name --> | birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name -->
| birth_date = {{Birth based on age as of date|31|2019|3|21}} | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1987}}
| birth_place = | birth_place =
| death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (DEATH date then BIRTH date) --> | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (DEATH date then BIRTH date) -->
| death_place = | death_place =
| nationality = <!-- use only when necessary per ] --> | nationality = <!-- use only when necessary per ] -->
| alma_mater = ] | alma_mater = ]
| occupation = ], ] | occupation = ], ]
| years_active = 2008- | years_active = 2008–present
| employer = ], Honeycomb | employer = ], ]
| known_for = ] | known_for = ]
| website = https://www.lizthegrey.com/ | website = {{Official URL}}
}} }}

'''Liz Fong-Jones''' (born 1987 or 1988)<ref name=":10">{{cite web|last=Griffith|first=Riley|date=21 March 2019|title=Get to Know Your Trans Co-Workers|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-03-21/trans-people-describe-discrimination-support-in-the-workplace|access-date=2022-02-03|website=]|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203022113/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-03-21/trans-people-describe-discrimination-support-in-the-workplace|url-status=live}}</ref> is a ] and ] known for ] with her contributions to the ] and her role in leading ] efforts. She is the president of the Board of Directors of the Solidarity Fund by Coworker, which she seeded with her own money. '''Liz Fong-Jones''' (born {{birth year|1987}})<ref>{{cite podcast|url=https://gender.libsyn.com/episode-169-liz-fong-jones|title=Liz Fong-Jones|date=18 March 2024|host=Tuck Woodstock|publisher=Gender Reveal|time=00:11:40}}</ref><ref name=":10">{{cite web|last=Griffin|first=Riley|date=21 March 2019|title=Get to Know Your Trans Co-Workers|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-03-21/trans-people-describe-discrimination-support-in-the-workplace|access-date=3 February 2022|website=]|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203022113/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-03-21/trans-people-describe-discrimination-support-in-the-workplace|url-status=live}}</ref> is a ] and ] known for ] with her contributions to the ] and her role in leading ] efforts. She is the president of the board of directors of the Solidarity Fund by Coworker, which she ] with her own money. She is ]'s field ].


== Education == == Education ==
Fong-Jones started attending college in the ] for a couple of years, then took a sabbatical until returning to finish a ] (SB) in ] from ] in 2014.<ref name=":18">{{cite news|last=Lieber|first=Ron|date=13 April 2012|title=Fatal Collision Makes Car-Sharing Worries No Longer Theoretical|language=en-US|work=]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/14/your-money/relayrides-accident-raises-questions-on-liabilities-of-car-sharing.html|access-date=2022-02-03|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203153544/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/14/your-money/relayrides-accident-raises-questions-on-liabilities-of-car-sharing.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":19">{{cite web|date=2019-06-08|title=3. Liz Fong-Jones - "You *can* be successful as a trans person. I wish there were more of us."|url=https://yfmpodcast.com/3-liz-fong-jones/|access-date=2022-02-03|website=Your First Million|language=en-US|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203162945/https://yfmpodcast.com/3-liz-fong-jones/|url-status=live}}</ref> Fong-Jones started attending college at the ] in 2005, then dropped out in 2007 when she realized she was not going to have enough money to finish school without going into debt.<ref name=":19" /><ref>{{Cite tweet|number=896132539370225664|user=lizthegrey|title=My GPA on leaving @Caltech in 2007 was 2.2 b/c parental abuse and transition trauma. Graduated @MIT EECS in 2014 w/ 4.9/5.0 GPA #WITBragDay|author=Liz Fong-Jones|date=August 11, 2017|access-date=September 5, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220905141532/https://twitter.com/lizthegrey/status/896132539370225664|archive-date=September 5, 2022}}</ref> She later returned to school, graduating from the ]'s ] with a ] degree in 2014.<ref name=":18">{{cite news|last=Lieber|first=Ron|date=13 April 2012|title=Fatal Collision Makes Car-Sharing Worries No Longer Theoretical|language=en-US|work=]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/14/your-money/relayrides-accident-raises-questions-on-liabilities-of-car-sharing.html|access-date=3 February 2022|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203153544/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/14/your-money/relayrides-accident-raises-questions-on-liabilities-of-car-sharing.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":19">{{cite web|date=8 June 2019|title=3. Liz Fong-Jones "You *can* be successful as a trans person. I wish there were more of us."|url=https://yfmpodcast.com/3-liz-fong-jones/|access-date=3 February 2022|website=Your First Million|language=en-US|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203162945/https://yfmpodcast.com/3-liz-fong-jones/|url-status=live}}</ref>


== Career and activism == == Career and activism ==
{{See also|Criticism of Google|Google worker organization}}Fong-Jones started her career in ] at a ] studio.<ref>{{Citation|last=Dan|first=Pop|title=Popcast - Episode 25 - Observability and MMO's with Liz Fong-Jones|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3fIrnC7r9Q|language=en|access-date=2022-02-03|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203162943/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3fIrnC7r9Q|url-status=live}}</ref> She says that her career followed in the footsteps of her family members, who are mainly engineers.<ref name=":10" /> {{See also|Criticism of Google|Google worker organization}}Fong-Jones started her career in ] at a ] studio.<ref>{{Citation|last=Dan|first=Pop|title=Popcast Episode 25 Observability and MMO's with Liz Fong-Jones|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3fIrnC7r9Q|language=en|access-date=3 February 2022|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203162943/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3fIrnC7r9Q|url-status=live}}</ref> She says that her career followed in the footsteps of her family members, who are mainly engineers.<ref name=":10" />


=== Google (2008-2019) === === Google (2008–2019) ===


==== 2008-2016 ==== ==== 2008–2016 ====
In 2008,<ref name=":20">{{cite web|last=Stangel|first=Luke|date=7 January 2019|title=Prominent Google engineer and activist Liz Fong-Jones is heading to a startup|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2019/01/07/liz-fong-jones-google-leaving-for-startup-goog.html|access-date=2022-02-03|website=]|archive-date=8 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190908064337/https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2019/01/07/liz-fong-jones-google-leaving-for-startup-goog.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Fong-Jones joined ], which she said is one of the best places for a ] person to work,<ref name=":10" /> as a systems administrator<ref name=":18" /> in their ] office,<ref name=":19" /> eventually becoming a software engineer in the field of site reliability at their ] office,<ref name=":18" /> followed by their ] office.<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":3">{{cite web|last=Captain|first=Sean|date=15 October 2018|title=How a transgender Google engineer fights prejudice with empathy|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/90250497/the-inclusion-advocate-liz-fong-jones|access-date=2022-02-02|website=]|language=en-US|archive-date=2 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202232749/https://www.fastcompany.com/90250497/the-inclusion-advocate-liz-fong-jones|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{cite magazine|last=Tiku|first=Nitasha|date=26 January 2018|title=The Dirty War Over Diversity Inside Google|language=en-US|magazine=]|url=https://www.wired.com/story/the-dirty-war-over-diversity-inside-google/|access-date=2022-02-02|issn=1059-1028|archive-date=15 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210915212257/https://www.wired.com/story/the-dirty-war-over-diversity-inside-google/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite book|last=Cook|first=Katy|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1125070590|title=The psychology of Silicon Valley : ethical threats and emotional unintelligence in the tech industry|date=2020|isbn=978-3-030-27364-4|location=Basingstoke|oclc=1125070590|access-date=3 February 2022|archive-date=24 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220224211910/https://www.worldcat.org/title/psychology-of-silicon-valley-ethical-threats-and-emotional-unintelligence-in-the-tech-industry/oclc/1125070590|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":5" /> She says she began organizing within the company in 2010, focusing on "equity engineering" by working on fixing issues with products that adversely affected ] communities, like insuring accessibility for customers who utilize ]. She later expanded her advocacy to ]s of employees within the company, like ] and ] issues.<ref name=":3" /> In 2008,<ref name=":20">{{cite web|last=Stangel|first=Luke|date=7 January 2019|title=Prominent Google engineer and activist Liz Fong-Jones is heading to a startup|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2019/01/07/liz-fong-jones-google-leaving-for-startup-goog.html|access-date=3 February 2022|website=]|archive-date=8 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190908064337/https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2019/01/07/liz-fong-jones-google-leaving-for-startup-goog.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Fong-Jones joined ], which she said is one of the best places for a ] person to work,<ref name=":10" /> as a systems administrator<ref name=":18" /> in their ] office,<ref name=":19" /> eventually becoming a software engineer in the field of site reliability at their ] office,<ref name=":18" /> followed by their ] office.<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":3">{{cite web|last=Captain|first=Sean|date=15 October 2018|title=How a transgender Google engineer fights prejudice with empathy|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/90250497/the-inclusion-advocate-liz-fong-jones|access-date=2 February 2022|website=]|language=en-US|archive-date=2 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202232749/https://www.fastcompany.com/90250497/the-inclusion-advocate-liz-fong-jones|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{cite magazine|last=Tiku|first=Nitasha|date=26 January 2018|title=The Dirty War Over Diversity Inside Google|language=en-US|magazine=]|url=https://www.wired.com/story/the-dirty-war-over-diversity-inside-google/|access-date=2 February 2022|issn=1059-1028|archive-date=15 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210915212257/https://www.wired.com/story/the-dirty-war-over-diversity-inside-google/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Cook |first=Katy |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1125070590 |title=The psychology of Silicon Valley : ethical threats and emotional unintelligence in the tech industry |date=2020 |publisher=] |isbn=978-3-030-27364-4 |location=Basingstoke |oclc=1125070590 |access-date=3 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220224211910/https://www.worldcat.org/title/psychology-of-silicon-valley-ethical-threats-and-emotional-unintelligence-in-the-tech-industry/oclc/1125070590 |archive-date=24 February 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":5" /> She says she began organizing within the company in 2010, focusing on "equity engineering" by working on fixing issues with products that adversely affected ] communities, like ensuring accessibility for customers who utilize ]. She later expanded her advocacy to ]s of employees within the company, like ] and ] issues.<ref name=":3" />


In 2011, she began taking fellow employee concerns to management, starting when ] was about to launch. On behalf of her and her colleagues, she warned executives from requiring users to disclose their real names. Following public outrage, part of the ], she successfully negotiated a new policy, which she subsequently communicated directly to concerned employees, making her an unofficial "union representative" for workers.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":5">{{cite magazine|last=Tiku|first=Nitasha|date=13 August 2019|title=Three Years of Misery Inside Google, the Happiest Company in Tech|magazine=]|url=https://www.wired.com/story/inside-google-three-years-misery-happiest-company-tech/|access-date=2022-02-02|issn=1059-1028|archive-date=27 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191127045402/https://www.wired.com/story/inside-google-three-years-misery-happiest-company-tech/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":14">{{cite web|last=Bhuiyan|first=Johana|date=6 November 2018|title=How the Google walkout transformed tech workers into activists|url=https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/story/2019-11-06/google-employee-walkout-tech-industry-activism|access-date=2022-02-03|website=]|language=en-US|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203043043/https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/story/2019-11-06/google-employee-walkout-tech-industry-activism|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2011, she began taking fellow employee concerns to management, starting when ] was about to launch. On behalf of her and her colleagues, she warned executives from requiring users to disclose their real names. Following public outrage, part of the ], she successfully negotiated a new policy, which she subsequently communicated directly to concerned employees, making her an unofficial "union representative" for workers.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":5">{{cite magazine|last=Tiku|first=Nitasha|date=13 August 2019|title=Three Years of Misery Inside Google, the Happiest Company in Tech|magazine=]|url=https://www.wired.com/story/inside-google-three-years-misery-happiest-company-tech/|access-date=2 February 2022|issn=1059-1028|archive-date=27 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191127045402/https://www.wired.com/story/inside-google-three-years-misery-happiest-company-tech/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":14">{{cite web|last=Bhuiyan|first=Johana|date=6 November 2018|title=How the Google walkout transformed tech workers into activists|url=https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/story/2019-11-06/google-employee-walkout-tech-industry-activism|access-date=3 February 2022|website=]|language=en-US|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203043043/https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/story/2019-11-06/google-employee-walkout-tech-industry-activism|url-status=live}}</ref>


In 2016, Fong-Jones contributed to the codebase of the 2016 ], which made it easier to verify signatories ' identities who pledged not to work on harmful projects.<ref name=":3" /> In 2016, Fong-Jones contributed to the codebase of the 2016 ], which made it easier to verify signatories' identities who pledged not to work on harmful projects.<ref name=":3" />


==== Google's Ideological Echo Chamber memo (2017) ==== ==== "Google's Ideological Echo Chamber" memo (2017) ====
Fong-Jones said that while the activism always created tension, it turned hostile in 2017 following James Damore's ] memo, which argued that women lacked innate qualities to be engineers using talking points from ].<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":15">{{cite news|last1=Conger|first1=Kate|last2=Scheiber|first2=Noam|date=19 February 2020|title=The Great Google Revolt|language=en-US|work=]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/02/18/magazine/google-revolt.html|access-date=2022-02-02|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=3 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503153504/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/02/18/magazine/google-revolt.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Galinksy|first=Adam|date=9 August 2017|title=Google's Anti-Diversity Crisis Is a Classic Example of Right vs. Right|url=https://fortune.com/2017/08/09/google-james-damore-diversity/|access-date=2022-02-02|website=]|language=en|archive-date=2 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202232748/https://fortune.com/2017/08/09/google-james-damore-diversity/|url-status=live}}</ref> The data and arguments of the essay were widely criticized as "debunked" and "shaky scientism", and many concluded that it was naiveté rooted in politics attempting to use scientific rhetoric to make sexist power dynamics permanent. Damore was later terminated.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Kovach|first=Steve|date=13 August 2017|title=Female employee on the Google memo: 'I don't know how we could feel anything but attacked by that'|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/female-google-employee-responds-to-james-damore-memo-2017-8|access-date=2022-02-02|website=]|language=en-US|archive-date=2 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202232748/https://www.businessinsider.com/female-google-employee-responds-to-james-damore-memo-2017-8|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Romano|first=Aja|date=8 August 2017|title=Google has fired the engineer whose anti-diversity memo reflects a divided tech culture|url=https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/8/8/16106728/google-fired-engineer-anti-diversity-memo|access-date=2022-02-02|website=]|language=en|archive-date=9 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809091020/https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/8/8/16106728/google-fired-engineer-anti-diversity-memo|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Molteni|first=Megan|date=15 August 2017|title=The Actual Science of James Damore's Google Memo|language=en-US|magazine=]|url=https://www.wired.com/story/the-pernicious-science-of-james-damores-google-memo/|access-date=2022-02-02|issn=1059-1028|archive-date=8 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211208234015/https://www.wired.com/story/the-pernicious-science-of-james-damores-google-memo/|url-status=live}}</ref> Fong-Jones said that while the activism always created tension, it turned hostile in 2017 following James Damore's ] memo, which argued that the underrepresentation of women in tech was due to innate psychological differences between men and women rather than bias, using talking points from ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Conger |first=Kate |date=2017-08-05 |title=Exclusive: Here's The Full 10-Page Anti-Diversity Screed Circulating Internally At Google |url=https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2017/08/exclusive-heres-the-full-10-page-anti-diversity-screed-circulating-internally-at-google/ |access-date=2022-10-12 |website=Gizmodo Australia |language=en-AU |archive-date=6 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230506014927/https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2017/08/exclusive-heres-the-full-10-page-anti-diversity-screed-circulating-internally-at-google/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":15">{{cite news|last1=Conger|first1=Kate|last2=Scheiber|first2=Noam|date=19 February 2020|title=The Great Google Revolt|language=en-US|work=]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/02/18/magazine/google-revolt.html|access-date=2 February 2022|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=3 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503153504/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/02/18/magazine/google-revolt.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Galinksy|first=Adam|date=9 August 2017|title=Google's Anti-Diversity Crisis Is a Classic Example of Right vs. Right|url=https://fortune.com/2017/08/09/google-james-damore-diversity/|access-date=2 February 2022|website=]|language=en|archive-date=2 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202232748/https://fortune.com/2017/08/09/google-james-damore-diversity/|url-status=live}}</ref> The data and arguments of the essay were widely criticized as "debunked" and "shaky scientism", and many concluded that it was naiveté rooted in politics attempting to use scientific rhetoric to make sexist power dynamics permanent. Damore was later terminated.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Kovach|first=Steve|date=13 August 2017|title=Female employee on the Google memo: 'I don't know how we could feel anything but attacked by that'|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/female-google-employee-responds-to-james-damore-memo-2017-8|access-date=2 February 2022|website=]|language=en-US|archive-date=2 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202232748/https://www.businessinsider.com/female-google-employee-responds-to-james-damore-memo-2017-8|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Romano|first=Aja|date=8 August 2017|title=Google has fired the engineer whose anti-diversity memo reflects a divided tech culture|url=https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/8/8/16106728/google-fired-engineer-anti-diversity-memo|access-date=2 February 2022|website=]|language=en|archive-date=9 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809091020/https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/8/8/16106728/google-fired-engineer-anti-diversity-memo|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Molteni|first=Megan|date=15 August 2017|title=The Actual Science of James Damore's Google Memo|language=en-US|magazine=]|url=https://www.wired.com/story/the-pernicious-science-of-james-damores-google-memo/|access-date=2 February 2022|issn=1059-1028|archive-date=8 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211208234015/https://www.wired.com/story/the-pernicious-science-of-james-damores-google-memo/|url-status=live}}</ref>


On August 10, 2017,<ref name=":8">{{cite magazine|last=Tiku|first=Nitasha|date=10 August 2017|title=Google CEO Abruptly Cancels The Town Hall About Jame's Damore's Sexist Memo|language=en-US|magazine=]|url=https://www.wired.com/story/google-abruptly-cancels-town-hall-about-that-memo/|access-date=2022-02-02|issn=1059-1028|archive-date=15 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515000416/https://www.wired.com/story/google-abruptly-cancels-town-hall-about-that-memo/|url-status=live}}</ref> Pichai was set to answer employee questions about controversy at the company's weekly all-hands, known as ''TGIF,'' but cancelled it 45 minutes prior, citing that the leak of the questions and fear of employee safety for "asking a question".<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":8" /> Fong-Jones referred to it as an "excuse" to not answer questions like her own, like why they had let the Damore's memo stay on their servers for more than a month if it was grounds for termination, and that she felt it was "a triumph" for her harassers.<ref name=":5" /> On 10 August 2017,<ref name=":8">{{cite magazine|last=Tiku|first=Nitasha|date=10 August 2017|title=Google CEO Abruptly Cancels The Town Hall About Jame's Damore's Sexist Memo|language=en-US|magazine=]|url=https://www.wired.com/story/google-abruptly-cancels-town-hall-about-that-memo/|access-date=2 February 2022|issn=1059-1028|archive-date=15 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515000416/https://www.wired.com/story/google-abruptly-cancels-town-hall-about-that-memo/|url-status=live}}</ref> ], the CEO of Alphabet, Google's now-parent company, was set to answer employee questions about the controversy at the company's weekly all-hands, known as ''TGIF,'' but canceled it 45 minutes prior, citing the leak of the questions and fear of employee safety for "asking a question".<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":8" /> Fong-Jones referred to it as an "excuse" to not answer questions like her own, like why they had let the Damore's memo stay on their servers for more than a month if it was grounds for termination, and that she felt it was "a triumph" for her harassers.<ref name=":5" />


After a Google+ conversation criticizing the memo was leaked to an ] blog, '']'', and picked up by public figures such as ], Fong-Jones became a public target for harassment, blaming her and seven other vocal Google employees for Damore's termination. The harassment included death threats and ] by other employees on websites such as '']'' and ].<ref name=":3" /> The targeted employees filed complaints, and said that the security teams were vigilant about physical threats to employee safety,<ref name=":4" /> including offering to put doxxed employees in a hotel for a night.<ref name=":5" /> Danielle Brown, the company's ] at the time, who was also a target of the harassment, was supportive, but that none of the complaints about individual employees involved were acted upon and that they were told they may fall under the protection of the ] as "protected concerted activity".<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /> Several activist employees who spoke internally about ] and ] in the wake of the harassment were terminated, and subsequently sued Google.<ref>{{cite web|last=Conger|first=Kate|date=21 February 2018|title=Google Fired and Disciplined Employees for Speaking Out About Diversity|url=https://gizmodo.com/google-fired-and-disciplined-employees-for-speaking-out-1822277125|access-date=2022-02-02|website=]|language=en-us|archive-date=2 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202232744/https://gizmodo.com/google-fired-and-disciplined-employees-for-speaking-out-1822277125|url-status=live}}</ref> The terms used by some of the reprimanded employees included "]" and "]", which Google said in a statement was grounds for termination under their policy that "Promoting harmful stereotypes based on race or gender is prohibited".<ref name=":5" /> After a Google+ conversation criticizing the memo was leaked to an ] blog, '']'', and picked up by public figures such as ], Fong-Jones became a public target for harassment, blaming her and seven other vocal Google employees for Damore's termination. The harassment included death threats and ] by other employees on websites such as '']'' and ].<ref name=":3" /> The targeted employees filed complaints, and said that the security teams were vigilant about physical threats to employee safety,<ref name=":4" /> including offering to put doxxed employees in a hotel for a night.<ref name=":5" /> Danielle Brown, the company's ] at the time, who was also a target of the harassment, was supportive, however none of the complaints about individual employees involved were acted upon, and they were told the leaks may fall under the protection of the ] as "protected concerted activity".<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /> Several activist employees who spoke internally about ] and ] in the wake of the harassment were terminated, and subsequently sued Google.<ref>{{cite web|last=Conger|first=Kate|date=21 February 2018|title=Google Fired and Disciplined Employees for Speaking Out About Diversity|url=https://gizmodo.com/google-fired-and-disciplined-employees-for-speaking-out-1822277125|access-date=2 February 2022|website=]|language=en-us|archive-date=2 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202232744/https://gizmodo.com/google-fired-and-disciplined-employees-for-speaking-out-1822277125|url-status=live}}</ref> The terms used by some of the reprimanded employees included "]" and "white boy", which Google said in a statement was grounds for termination under their policy that "Promoting harmful stereotypes based on race or gender is prohibited".<ref name=":5" />


In October 2017, Fong-Jones arranged for ], a labor group that typically assists ]s in organizing, to give her colleagues a "know your rights" training. She said that when she and her coworkers felt that internal pressure had been fruitless, they wanted to understand what their legal rights were. They had understood that talking to the press was not allowed, due to the company's culture of secrecy. She said they quickly learned they had the right to talk to the press, and that using Google's ] would not be legally protected.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":9">{{cite web|last=Caplan-Bricker|first=Nora|date=26 February 2020|title=Tech workers are organizing. Meet the labor vets whispering in their ears.|url=https://www.protocol.com/nonprofit-helps-tech-workers-organize|access-date=2022-02-03|website=]|language=en|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203005437/https://www.protocol.com/nonprofit-helps-tech-workers-organize|url-status=live}}</ref> In October 2017, Fong-Jones arranged for ], a labor group that typically assists ]s in organizing, to give her colleagues a "know your rights" training. She said that when she and her coworkers felt that internal pressure had been fruitless, they wanted to understand what their legal rights were. They had understood that talking to the press was not allowed, due to the company's culture of secrecy. She said they quickly learned they had the right to talk to the press, and that using Google's ] would not be legally protected.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":9">{{cite web|last=Caplan-Bricker|first=Nora|date=26 February 2020|title=Tech workers are organizing. Meet the labor vets whispering in their ears.|url=https://www.protocol.com/nonprofit-helps-tech-workers-organize|access-date=3 February 2022|website=]|language=en|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203005437/https://www.protocol.com/nonprofit-helps-tech-workers-organize|url-status=live}}</ref>


Fong-Jones helped start a petition, along with a statement about her and her colleagues decision to go to the press, demanding a safer working environment, including better ] of ], and rules against doxing colleagues. The petition gathered 2,600 signatures.<ref name=":5" /> Fong-Jones helped start a petition, along with a statement about her and her colleagues decision to go to the press, demanding a safer working environment, including better ] of ], and rules against doxing colleagues. The petition gathered 2,600 signatures.<ref name=":5" />


==== Google Walkout (2018) ==== ==== Walkout (2018) ====


In February 2018, concerns about ] (Maven), a ] project, which Fong-Jones had previously heard about from a small group of engineers in August 2017 working under ], the chief scientist for ] (AI) on ], materialized into an internal Google+ post by Fong-Jones.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":15" /> The post expressed "grave concerns" that Google might be assisting the ] carry out ]s.<ref name=":5" /> In February 2018, concerns about ], a ] project, which Fong-Jones had previously heard about from a small group of engineers in August 2017 working under ], the chief scientist for ] (AI) on ], materialized into an internal Google+ post by Fong-Jones.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":15" /> The post expressed "grave concerns" that Google might be assisting the ] carry out ]s.<ref name=":5" />


Fong-Jones, and a group of engineers who posted concerns about being tasked with building an ], were referred to as "the Group of Nine" by outraged employees, causing ], then-CEO of Google Cloud, to respond on Google+, which was subsequently leaked to '']''. Fong-Jones, who had been solicited for comment by a journalist at the outlet, feared that management would feel backed into a corner and offered to help leadership catch "the leaker". ], a former Google Cloud program manager, circulated a petition to other employees demanding cancellation of the contract, writing, "Google should not be in the business of war".<ref name=":5" /> In June 2018, Google responded to employee and public pressure, promising not to utilize AI for weapons or surveillance and not to renew its Maven contract.<ref>{{Cite web|last=D'Onfro|first=Jillian|date=7 June 2018|title=Google promises not to use A.I. for weapons or surveillance, for the most part|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/07/google-ai-ethical-principles.html|access-date=2022-02-03|website=]|language=en|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203021439/https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/07/google-ai-ethical-principles.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=D'Onfro|first=Jillian|date=1 June 2018|title=Google will not renew controversial Pentagon contract, cloud leader Diane Greene tells employees|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/01/google-will-not-renew-a-controversial-pentagon-contract.html|access-date=2022-02-03|website=]|language=en|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203021437/https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/01/google-will-not-renew-a-controversial-pentagon-contract.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Fong-Jones, and a group of engineers who posted concerns about being tasked with building an ], were referred to as "the Group of Nine" by outraged employees, causing ], then-CEO of Google Cloud, to respond on Google+, which was subsequently leaked to '']''. Fong-Jones, who had been solicited for comment by a journalist at the outlet, feared that management would feel backed into a corner and offered to help leadership catch "the leaker". ], a former Google Cloud program manager, circulated a petition to other employees demanding cancellation of the contract, writing, "Google should not be in the business of war".<ref name=":5" /> In June 2018, Google responded to employee and public pressure, promising not to utilize AI for weapons or surveillance and not to renew its Maven contract.<ref>{{Cite web|last=D'Onfro|first=Jillian|date=7 June 2018|title=Google promises not to use A.I. for weapons or surveillance, for the most part|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/07/google-ai-ethical-principles.html|access-date=3 February 2022|website=]|language=en|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203021439/https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/07/google-ai-ethical-principles.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=D'Onfro|first=Jillian|date=1 June 2018|title=Google will not renew controversial Pentagon contract, cloud leader Diane Greene tells employees|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/01/google-will-not-renew-a-controversial-pentagon-contract.html|access-date=3 February 2022|website=]|language=en|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203021437/https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/01/google-will-not-renew-a-controversial-pentagon-contract.html|url-status=live}}</ref>


In October 2018, Google was accused of mishandling ] complaints, including a $90 million ] for ], who was accused of coercing a junior employee into sexual contact, which he denied. Fong-Jones said that the company "covers up harassment," contributing to a work environment that discourages women from reporting misconduct, saying that victims believe, "the men will be paid and the women will be pushed aside."<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Wakabayashi|first1=Daisuke|last2=Benner|first2=Katie|date=2018-10-25|title=How Google Protected Andy Rubin, the 'Father of Android'|language=en-US|work=]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/25/technology/google-sexual-harassment-andy-rubin.html|access-date=2022-02-03|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=25 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181025171521/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/25/technology/google-sexual-harassment-andy-rubin.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2017, Fong-Jones had alleged on Google+ that she was ] by a director at the company, which was later reported on. In a series of tweets, Fong-Jones criticized the company's culture as allowing leadership to operate "abuse of power relationships where there was no consent, or consent was impossible." She went on to name the director from her 2017 Google+ post as Richard DeVaul, the head of ], who was also named in '']'' article about Rubin. DeVaul apologized for his behavior.<ref>{{cite web|last=Hamilton|first=Isobel Asher|date=26 October 2018|title='Google covers up harassment and passes the trash': A Google engineer gave her employer both barrels after an explosive sexual misconduct report|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/google-engineer-liz-fong-jones-alleges-harassment-cover-up-2018-10|access-date=2022-02-03|website=]|language=en-US|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203164721/https://www.businessinsider.com/google-engineer-liz-fong-jones-alleges-harassment-cover-up-2018-10|url-status=live}}</ref> In October 2018, Google was accused of mishandling ] complaints, including a $90 million ] for ], who was accused of coercing a junior employee into sexual contact, which he denied. Fong-Jones said that the company "covers up harassment", contributing to a work environment that discourages women from reporting misconduct, saying that victims believe, "the men will be paid and the women will be pushed aside."<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Wakabayashi|first1=Daisuke|last2=Benner|first2=Katie|date=25 October 2018|title=How Google Protected Andy Rubin, the 'Father of Android'|language=en-US|work=]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/25/technology/google-sexual-harassment-andy-rubin.html|access-date=3 February 2022|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=25 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181025171521/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/25/technology/google-sexual-harassment-andy-rubin.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2017, Fong-Jones had alleged on Google+ that she was ] by a director at the company, which was later reported on. In a series of tweets, Fong-Jones criticized the company's culture as allowing leadership to operate "abuse of power relationships where there was no consent, or consent was impossible." She went on to name the director from her 2017 Google+ post as Richard DeVaul, the head of ], who was also named in '']'' article about Rubin. DeVaul apologized for his behavior.<ref>{{cite web|last=Hamilton|first=Isobel Asher|date=26 October 2018|title='Google covers up harassment and passes the trash': A Google engineer gave her employer both barrels after an explosive sexual misconduct report|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/google-engineer-liz-fong-jones-alleges-harassment-cover-up-2018-10|access-date=3 February 2022|website=]|language=en-US|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203164721/https://www.businessinsider.com/google-engineer-liz-fong-jones-alleges-harassment-cover-up-2018-10|url-status=live}}</ref>


On November 1, 2018, across 50 cities, nearly 20,000 Google employees participated in the ] demanding over their working conditions, ethical technology concerns, and how the company handles sexual harassment complaints.<ref name=":1">{{cite web|last=Captain|first=Sean|date=3 December 2018|title=Meet the Google engineer getting its workers ready to strike|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/90275462/meet-the-google-engineer-getting-its-workers-ready-to-strike|access-date=2022-02-02|website=]|language=en-US|archive-date=2 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202204205/https://www.fastcompany.com/90275462/meet-the-google-engineer-getting-its-workers-ready-to-strike|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{cite news|last1=Conger|first1=Kate|last2=Wakabayashi|first2=Daisuke|last3=Benner|first3=Katie|date=31 October 2018|title=Google Faces Internal Backlash Over Handling of Sexual Harassment|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/31/technology/google-sexual-harassment-walkout.html|access-date=2022-01-12|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=12 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220112025405/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/31/technology/google-sexual-harassment-walkout.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite web|last=Campbell|first=Alexia Fernández|date=7 June 2019|title=A Google walkout organizer just quit, saying she was branded with a "scarlet letter"|url=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/6/7/18656562/google-walkout-organizer-stapleton-quits|url-status=live|access-date=2022-01-07|website=]|language=en|archive-date=8 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608045439/https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/6/7/18656562/google-walkout-organizer-stapleton-quits}}</ref> One of the catalysts was a report that ] (Dragonfly), a ] built by Google for ] involving ]<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Yuan|first1=Li|last2=Wakabayashi|first2=Daisuke|date=1 August 2018|title=Google, Seeking a Return to China, Is Said to Be Building a Censored Search Engine|language=en-US|work=]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/01/technology/china-google-censored-search-engine.html|access-date=2022-02-02|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=2 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202204643/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/01/technology/china-google-censored-search-engine.html|url-status=live}}</ref> that was implicated in the persecution of the country's ] minority, the ],<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ma|first=Alexandra|date=14 October 2018|title=It looks as if China just laid out how it wants Google to help it persecute its Muslim minority|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/china-likely-laid-out-how-google-can-help-persecute-uighur-minority-2018-10|access-date=2022-02-02|website=]|language=en-US|archive-date=2 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202204213/https://www.businessinsider.com/china-likely-laid-out-how-google-can-help-persecute-uighur-minority-2018-10|url-status=live}}</ref> had ignored the company's privacy review process and lied to the public about how close it was to launch.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{cite web|last=Gallagher|first=Ryan|date=9 October 2018|title=Leaked Transcript of Private Meeting Contradicts Google's Official Story on China|url=https://theintercept.com/2018/10/09/google-china-censored-search-engine/|access-date=2022-02-02|website=]|language=en-US|archive-date=2 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202204204/https://theintercept.com/2018/10/09/google-china-censored-search-engine/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Nieva|first=Richard|date=29 November 2018|title=Google excluded privacy team from Dragonfly China project, report says|url=https://www.cnet.com/news/google-reportedly-cut-out-privacy-teams-from-dragonfly-china-search-project/|access-date=2022-02-02|website=]|language=en|archive-date=2 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202204204/https://www.cnet.com/news/google-reportedly-cut-out-privacy-teams-from-dragonfly-china-search-project/|url-status=live}}</ref> Pichai was later called to appear before the ] at a hearing about Dragonfly. He testified that they had no current plans to launch a search product in China.<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Ghaffary|first=Shirin|date=10 December 2018|title=Everything you need to know about Google's controversial China plans in advance of today's congressional hearing|url=https://www.vox.com/2018/12/10/18131486/google-ceo-congress-hearing-china-censored-search-dragonfly|access-date=2022-02-03|website=]|language=en|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203021433/https://www.vox.com/2018/12/10/18131486/google-ceo-congress-hearing-china-censored-search-dragonfly|url-status=live}}</ref> On 1 November 2018, across 50 cities, nearly 20,000 Google employees participated in the ] demanding changes over their working conditions, ethical technology concerns, and how the company handles sexual harassment complaints.<ref name=":1">{{cite web|last=Captain|first=Sean|date=3 December 2018|title=Meet the Google engineer getting its workers ready to strike|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/90275462/meet-the-google-engineer-getting-its-workers-ready-to-strike|access-date=2 February 2022|website=]|language=en-US|archive-date=2 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202204205/https://www.fastcompany.com/90275462/meet-the-google-engineer-getting-its-workers-ready-to-strike|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{cite news|last1=Conger|first1=Kate|last2=Wakabayashi|first2=Daisuke|last3=Benner|first3=Katie|date=31 October 2018|title=Google Faces Internal Backlash Over Handling of Sexual Harassment|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/31/technology/google-sexual-harassment-walkout.html|access-date=12 January 2022|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=12 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220112025405/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/31/technology/google-sexual-harassment-walkout.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite web|last=Campbell|first=Alexia Fernández|date=7 June 2019|title=A Google walkout organizer just quit, saying she was branded with a "scarlet letter"|url=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/6/7/18656562/google-walkout-organizer-stapleton-quits|url-status=live|access-date=7 January 2022|website=]|language=en|archive-date=8 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608045439/https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/6/7/18656562/google-walkout-organizer-stapleton-quits}}</ref> One of the catalysts was a report that ] (Dragonfly), a ] built by Google for ] involving ]<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Yuan|first1=Li|last2=Wakabayashi|first2=Daisuke|date=1 August 2018|title=Google, Seeking a Return to China, Is Said to Be Building a Censored Search Engine|language=en-US|work=]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/01/technology/china-google-censored-search-engine.html|access-date=2 February 2022|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=2 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202204643/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/01/technology/china-google-censored-search-engine.html|url-status=live}}</ref> that was implicated in the persecution of the country's ] minority, the ],<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ma|first=Alexandra|date=14 October 2018|title=It looks as if China just laid out how it wants Google to help it persecute its Muslim minority|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/china-likely-laid-out-how-google-can-help-persecute-uighur-minority-2018-10|access-date=2 February 2022|website=]|language=en-US|archive-date=2 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202204213/https://www.businessinsider.com/china-likely-laid-out-how-google-can-help-persecute-uighur-minority-2018-10|url-status=live}}</ref> had ignored the company's privacy review process and lied to the public about how close it was to launch.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{cite web|last=Gallagher|first=Ryan|date=9 October 2018|title=Leaked Transcript of Private Meeting Contradicts Google's Official Story on China|url=https://theintercept.com/2018/10/09/google-china-censored-search-engine/|access-date=2 February 2022|website=]|language=en-US|archive-date=2 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202204204/https://theintercept.com/2018/10/09/google-china-censored-search-engine/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Nieva|first=Richard|date=29 November 2018|title=Google excluded privacy team from Dragonfly China project, report says|url=https://www.cnet.com/news/google-reportedly-cut-out-privacy-teams-from-dragonfly-china-search-project/|access-date=2 February 2022|website=]|language=en|archive-date=2 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202204204/https://www.cnet.com/news/google-reportedly-cut-out-privacy-teams-from-dragonfly-china-search-project/|url-status=live}}</ref> Pichai was later called to appear before the ] at a hearing about Dragonfly. He testified that they had no current plans to launch a search product in China.<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Ghaffary|first=Shirin|date=10 December 2018|title=Everything you need to know about Google's controversial China plans in advance of today's congressional hearing|url=https://www.vox.com/2018/12/10/18131486/google-ceo-congress-hearing-china-censored-search-dragonfly|access-date=3 February 2022|website=]|language=en|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203021433/https://www.vox.com/2018/12/10/18131486/google-ceo-congress-hearing-china-censored-search-dragonfly|url-status=live}}</ref>


On November 29, 2018, Fong-Jones started a solidarity ] fund, consulting with Coworker.org, which is backed by ] of the ],<ref>{{Cite web|last=Stern|first=Christopher|date=23 June 2020|title=The Tech Billionaire Marshaling the Fight Against Big Tech|url=https://www.theinformation.com/articles/the-tech-billionaire-marshaling-the-fight-against-big-tech|access-date=2022-02-03|website=]|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203171336/https://www.theinformation.com/articles/the-tech-billionaire-marshaling-the-fight-against-big-tech|url-status=live}}</ref> promising that if her fellow employees donated $100,000, she would match it, which she publicized on ]. The fund was matched within a few hours, and reached $250,000 within days. Fong-Jones told '']'' she was seeking to start a fund for workers so that they "feel empowered to speak up about issues in the future",<ref name=":1" /> and later to ], "I'm trying to use some of my financial privilege to help those who can't afford to be suddenly laid off".<ref name=":9" /> At the time, Fong-Jones noted that the pledges weren't binding and that she would work with ]s and ] to set up a more formal fund.<ref>{{Cite web|last=D'Onfro|first=Jillian|date=29 November 2018|title=Google employees are so angry about how Google handled plans for a censored Chinese search engine, some are talking about a strike|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/29/google-worker-strike-discussions-on-project-dragonfly-censored-search.html|access-date=2022-02-03|website=]|language=en|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203032733/https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/29/google-worker-strike-discussions-on-project-dragonfly-censored-search.html|url-status=live}}</ref> On 29 November 2018, Fong-Jones started a solidarity ] fund, consulting with Coworker.org (which is backed by ] of the ]<ref>{{Cite web|last=Stern|first=Christopher|date=23 June 2020|title=The Tech Billionaire Marshaling the Fight Against Big Tech|url=https://www.theinformation.com/articles/the-tech-billionaire-marshaling-the-fight-against-big-tech|access-date=3 February 2022|website=]|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203171336/https://www.theinformation.com/articles/the-tech-billionaire-marshaling-the-fight-against-big-tech|url-status=live}}</ref>), promising that if her fellow employees donated $100,000, she would match it, which she publicized on ]. The fund was matched within a few hours, and reached $250,000 within days. Fong-Jones told '']'' she was seeking to start the fund for workers so that they "feel empowered to speak up about issues in the future",<ref name=":1" /> and later to ], "I'm trying to use some of my financial privilege to help those who can't afford to be suddenly laid off".<ref name=":9" /> At the time, Fong-Jones noted that the pledges were not binding and that she would work with ]s and ] to set up a more formal fund.<ref>{{Cite web|last=D'Onfro|first=Jillian|date=29 November 2018|title=Google employees are so angry about how Google handled plans for a censored Chinese search engine, some are talking about a strike|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/29/google-worker-strike-discussions-on-project-dragonfly-censored-search.html|access-date=3 February 2022|website=]|language=en|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203032733/https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/29/google-worker-strike-discussions-on-project-dragonfly-censored-search.html|url-status=live}}</ref>


One of the motivations to threaten to strike again was Dragonfly,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Shaban|first=Hamza|date=27 November 2018|title=Google employees go public to protest China search engine Dragonfly|language=en-US|newspaper=]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/11/27/google-employees-go-public-protest-china-search-engine-dragonfly/|access-date=2022-02-02|issn=0190-8286|archive-date=15 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115130920/https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/11/27/google-employees-go-public-protest-china-search-engine-dragonfly/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Newton|first=Casey|date=30 November 2018|title=A looming strike over Project Dragonfly is putting new pressure on Google|url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/18118711/google-strike-project-dragonfly-fundraising|access-date=2022-02-02|website=The Verge|language=en|archive-date=2 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202204205/https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/18118711/google-strike-project-dragonfly-fundraising|url-status=live}}</ref> and the allegation that the few people with knowledge of the project would be terminated if it was revealed to anyone else,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Gallagher|first=Ryan|date=29 November 2018|title=Google Shut Out Privacy and Security Teams From Secret China Project|url=https://theintercept.com/2018/11/29/google-china-censored-search/|access-date=2022-02-02|website=]|language=en-US|archive-date=2 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202232747/https://theintercept.com/2018/11/29/google-china-censored-search/|url-status=live}}</ref> which Google denied.<ref name=":1" /> Research scientist Dr. Jack Poulson resigned over the revelations. Fong-Jones threatened to resign if an employee was not appointed to the board of directors, one of the unmet demands from the walkout, by February 1, 2019.<ref name=":1" /> One of the motivations to threaten to strike again was Dragonfly,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Shaban|first=Hamza|date=27 November 2018|title=Google employees go public to protest China search engine Dragonfly|language=en-US|newspaper=]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/11/27/google-employees-go-public-protest-china-search-engine-dragonfly/|access-date=2 February 2022|issn=0190-8286|archive-date=15 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115130920/https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/11/27/google-employees-go-public-protest-china-search-engine-dragonfly/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Newton|first=Casey|date=30 November 2018|title=A looming strike over Project Dragonfly is putting new pressure on Google|url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/18118711/google-strike-project-dragonfly-fundraising|access-date=2 February 2022|website=The Verge|language=en|archive-date=2 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202204205/https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/18118711/google-strike-project-dragonfly-fundraising|url-status=live}}</ref> and the allegation that the few people with knowledge of the project would be terminated if it was revealed to anyone else,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Gallagher|first=Ryan|date=29 November 2018|title=Google Shut Out Privacy and Security Teams From Secret China Project|url=https://theintercept.com/2018/11/29/google-china-censored-search/|access-date=2 February 2022|website=]|language=en-US|archive-date=2 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202232747/https://theintercept.com/2018/11/29/google-china-censored-search/|url-status=live}}</ref> which Google denied.<ref name=":1" /> Research scientist Dr. Jack Poulson resigned over the revelations. Fong-Jones threatened to resign if an employee was not appointed to the board of directors, one of the unmet demands from the walkout, by 1 February 2019.<ref name=":1" />


Dragonfly had been the subject of the November 1 walkout, but also a petition in August 2018 co-signed by about 1,400 employees,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Conger|first1=Kate|last2=Wakabayashi|first2=Daisuke|date=16 August 2018|title=Google Employees Protest Secret Work on Censored Search Engine for China|language=en-US|work=]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/16/technology/google-employees-protest-search-censored-china.html|access-date=2022-02-02|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=6 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506113507/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/16/technology/google-employees-protest-search-censored-china.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and another on November 27 by more than 700.<ref name=":1" /> Employee concerns were downplayed by the CEO of ], Google's now-parent company, ], who said they only wanted to learn what Google would "look like" in China, referring to Dragonfly as a "very early" "exploration",<ref>{{Cite web|last=Statt|first=Nick|date=15 October 2018|title=Google CEO says it's 'important for us to explore' search in China|url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/15/17981834/google-ceo-sundar-pichai-china-project-dragonfly-wired25-summit|access-date=2022-02-02|website=The Verge|language=en|archive-date=2 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202215205/https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/15/17981834/google-ceo-sundar-pichai-china-project-dragonfly-wired25-summit|url-status=live}}</ref> a statement that was later alleged to be false or misleading based on leaked internal communications.<ref name=":2" /> Dragonfly had been the subject of the 1 November walkout, but also a petition in August 2018 co-signed by about 1,400 employees,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Conger|first1=Kate|last2=Wakabayashi|first2=Daisuke|date=16 August 2018|title=Google Employees Protest Secret Work on Censored Search Engine for China|language=en-US|work=]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/16/technology/google-employees-protest-search-censored-china.html|access-date=2 February 2022|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=6 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506113507/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/16/technology/google-employees-protest-search-censored-china.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and another on 27 November by more than 700.<ref name=":1" /> Employee concerns were downplayed by Pichai, who said they only wanted to learn what Google would "look like" in China, referring to Dragonfly as a "very early" "exploration",<ref>{{Cite web|last=Statt|first=Nick|date=15 October 2018|title=Google CEO says it's 'important for us to explore' search in China|url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/15/17981834/google-ceo-sundar-pichai-china-project-dragonfly-wired25-summit|access-date=2 February 2022|website=The Verge|language=en|archive-date=2 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202215205/https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/15/17981834/google-ceo-sundar-pichai-china-project-dragonfly-wired25-summit|url-status=live}}</ref> a statement that was later alleged to be false or misleading based on leaked internal communications.<ref name=":2" />


==== Resignation (2019) ==== ==== Resignation (2019) ====
Fong-Jones voluntarily resigned from Google in early January 2019,<ref name=":5" /> saying she wanted to create a "more just world rather than exacerbating inequalities".<ref name=":7" /> She said she left a job where her compensation totalled about $800,000 in a year,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Paunescu|first=Delia|date=1 November 2019|title=Can employee activism change Google? Revisiting the employee walkout one year later.|url=https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/11/1/20942488/google-discrimination-protest-employee-walkout-reset-podcast|access-date=2022-02-03|website=]|language=en|archive-date=26 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191126145838/https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/11/1/20942488/google-discrimination-protest-employee-walkout-reset-podcast|url-status=live}}</ref> and a half million in unvested ].<ref name=":12" /> Fong-Jones voluntarily resigned from Google in early January 2019,<ref name=":5" /> saying she wanted to create a "more just world rather than exacerbating inequalities".<ref name=":7" /> She said she left a job where her compensation totaled about $800,000 in a year,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Paunescu|first=Delia|date=1 November 2019|title=Can employee activism change Google? Revisiting the employee walkout one year later.|url=https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/11/1/20942488/google-discrimination-protest-employee-walkout-reset-podcast|access-date=3 February 2022|website=]|language=en|archive-date=26 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191126145838/https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/11/1/20942488/google-discrimination-protest-employee-walkout-reset-podcast|url-status=live}}</ref> and a half million in unvested ].<ref name=":12" />


In her resignation, she offered that she would reconsider if the company conceded to the previous demand that Google place an employee on its board. Fong-Jones alleges that Google's ] department tried to push her out prior to the end of her notice period, February 1, 2019, and filed a retaliation claim. Google's investigation determined that her allegations were unfounded.<ref name=":5" /> She later accepted a stock grant from Google close to around $100,000 to leave early, which she later donated to other organizing workers.<ref name=":13">{{cite web|last=DiFeliciantonio|first=Chase|date=19 August 2021|title=The tech world gives back with a fund that gives cash to workers for organizing|url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/tech/article/The-tech-world-gives-back-with-a-fund-that-gives-16398360.php|access-date=2022-02-03|website=]|language=en-US|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203032734/https://www.sfchronicle.com/tech/article/The-tech-world-gives-back-with-a-fund-that-gives-16398360.php|url-status=live}}</ref> In her resignation, she offered that she would reconsider if the company conceded to the previous demand that Google place an employee on its board. Fong-Jones alleges that Google's ] department tried to push her out prior to the end of her notice period, 1 February 2019, and filed a retaliation claim. Google's investigation determined that her allegations were unfounded.<ref name=":5" /> She later accepted a stock grant from Google close to around $100,000 to leave early, which she later donated to other organizing workers.<ref name=":13">{{cite web|last=DiFeliciantonio|first=Chase|date=19 August 2021|title=The tech world gives back with a fund that gives cash to workers for organizing|url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/tech/article/The-tech-world-gives-back-with-a-fund-that-gives-16398360.php|access-date=3 February 2022|website=]|language=en-US|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203032734/https://www.sfchronicle.com/tech/article/The-tech-world-gives-back-with-a-fund-that-gives-16398360.php|url-status=live}}</ref>


She told ], "If I didn’t care about Google I probably would have silently quit many, many months or years ago." Fong-Jones said that she was worried if she had stayed at Google and continue her activism without ], but applauded her colleagues who pressed on without her.<ref name=":11">{{cite web|last=Axios|first=Ina Fried|date=4 January 2019|title=Longtime Google engineer known for speaking out about sexual harassment and controversial projects is leaving|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/google-engineer-fong-jones-leaves-company-2019-1|access-date=2022-02-03|website=]|language=en-US|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203030315/https://www.businessinsider.com/google-engineer-fong-jones-leaves-company-2019-1|url-status=live}}</ref> She told ], "If I didn’t care about Google I probably would have silently quit many, many months or years ago." Fong-Jones said that if she had stayed at Google and continued her activism she would've ], but applauded her colleagues who pressed on without her.<ref name=":11">{{cite web|last=Axios|first=Ina Fried|date=4 January 2019|title=Longtime Google engineer known for speaking out about sexual harassment and controversial projects is leaving|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/google-engineer-fong-jones-leaves-company-2019-1|access-date=3 February 2022|website=]|language=en-US|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203030315/https://www.businessinsider.com/google-engineer-fong-jones-leaves-company-2019-1|url-status=live}}</ref>


Following her departure, she shared responses from the application ] which were mainly derogatory comments, including ] and ] comments about her identity. Comments made on Blind are anonymous, but the comments Fong-Jones shared were in the Google section, which requires a Google email address to be authenticated. She said that it was "scary" to know that they were written by some of her coworkers.<ref name=":12">{{cite web|last=Brown|first=Jennings|date=31 January 2019|title=Harassment, Transphobia, and Racism: A Look Inside Blind's Anonymous Chatting Forum for Google Employees|url=https://gizmodo.com/harassment-transphobia-and-racism-a-look-inside-blin-1831999239|access-date=2022-02-03|website=]|language=en-us|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203030312/https://gizmodo.com/harassment-transphobia-and-racism-a-look-inside-blin-1831999239|url-status=live}}</ref> Following her departure, she shared responses to her resignation from the application ] which were mainly derogatory comments, including ] and ] comments about her identity. Comments made on Blind are anonymous, but the comments Fong-Jones shared were in the Google section, which requires a Google email address to be authenticated. She said that it was "scary" to know that they were written by some of her coworkers.<ref name=":12">{{cite web|last=Brown|first=Jennings|date=31 January 2019|title=Harassment, Transphobia, and Racism: A Look Inside Blind's Anonymous Chatting Forum for Google Employees|url=https://gizmodo.com/harassment-transphobia-and-racism-a-look-inside-blin-1831999239|access-date=3 February 2022|website=]|language=en-us|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203030312/https://gizmodo.com/harassment-transphobia-and-racism-a-look-inside-blin-1831999239|url-status=live}}</ref>


In an essay she published on ] in February 2019, she said, "I have grave concerns about how strategic decisions are made at Google today, and who is missing a seat at the bargaining table."<ref name=":7" /> In an essay she published on ] in February 2019, she said, "I have grave concerns about how strategic decisions are made at Google today, and who is missing a seat at the bargaining table."<ref name=":7" />


=== 2019-present === === 2019–present ===
In February 2019,<ref name=":20" /> Fong-jones joined the ] named Honeycomb, an ] software service, as the company's first ]. She hopes to help engineers better understand distributed systems.<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":11" /> Of the company she said she is impressed by the company's commitment to diversity and corporate ethics, with a large number of its leadership roles held by women.<ref name=":11" /> In 2021, Fong-Jones spoke at Pulumi's Cloud Engineering Summit for Honeycomb.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-09-22|title=Second Annual Pulumi Cloud Engineering Summit on October 20 to Accelerate Best Practice Adoption for Building the Modern Cloud|url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210922005332/en/CORRECTING-and-REPLACING-Second-Annual-Pulumi-Cloud-Engineering-Summit-on-October-20-to-Accelerate-Best-Practice-Adoption-for-Building-the-Modern-Cloud|access-date=2022-02-03|website=]|language=en|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203030312/https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210922005332/en/CORRECTING-and-REPLACING-Second-Annual-Pulumi-Cloud-Engineering-Summit-on-October-20-to-Accelerate-Best-Practice-Adoption-for-Building-the-Modern-Cloud|url-status=live}}</ref> In February 2019,<ref name=":20" /> Fong-Jones joined the ] named ], a ] service, as the company's first ]. She hopes to help engineers better understand distributed systems.<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":11" /> She said she is impressed by the company's commitment to diversity and ], with a large number of its leadership roles held by women.<ref name=":11" /> In 2021, Fong-Jones spoke at Pulumi's Cloud Engineering Summit for Honeycomb.<ref>{{Cite web|date=22 September 2021|title=Second Annual Pulumi Cloud Engineering Summit on October 20 to Accelerate Best Practice Adoption for Building the Modern Cloud|url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210922005332/en/CORRECTING-and-REPLACING-Second-Annual-Pulumi-Cloud-Engineering-Summit-on-October-20-to-Accelerate-Best-Practice-Adoption-for-Building-the-Modern-Cloud|access-date=3 February 2022|website=]|language=en|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203030312/https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210922005332/en/CORRECTING-and-REPLACING-Second-Annual-Pulumi-Cloud-Engineering-Summit-on-October-20-to-Accelerate-Best-Practice-Adoption-for-Building-the-Modern-Cloud|url-status=live}}</ref> She is Honeycomb's Field ].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Liz Fong-Jones |url=https://www.honeycomb.io/teammember/liz-fong-jones |access-date=2022-10-13 |website=Honeycomb |language=en-US |archive-date=13 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221013010544/https://www.honeycomb.io/teammember/liz-fong-jones |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Hall |first1=Ellie |title=The Notorious Kiwi Farms Is Back Online |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ellievhall/kiwi-farms-back-online-keffals-campaign-null |access-date=1 January 2023 |work=BuzzFeed News |date=19 October 2022 |language=en |archive-date=19 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221219081113/https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ellievhall/kiwi-farms-back-online-keffals-campaign-null |url-status=live }}</ref>


Fong-Jones has continued to publicly advocate for ] in the workplace. She has said that the most important thing companies can do is to involve employees in structural decision-making processes, pointing to ] as an example for American companies to follow.<ref>{{Cite web|date=10 June 2019|title=Tech Diversity and Inclusion Efforts Haven't Worked, Advocate Fong-Jones Says|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2019-06-10/tech-diversity-and-inclusion-efforts-haven-t-worked-advocate-fong-jones-says-video|access-date=2022-02-03|website=]|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203153545/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2019-06-10/tech-diversity-and-inclusion-efforts-haven-t-worked-advocate-fong-jones-says-video|url-status=live}}</ref> Fong-Jones has continued to publicly advocate for ] in the workplace. She has said that the most important thing companies can do is to involve employees in structural decision-making processes, pointing to ] as an example for American companies to follow.<ref>{{Cite web|date=10 June 2019|title=Tech Diversity and Inclusion Efforts Haven't Worked, Advocate Fong-Jones Says|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2019-06-10/tech-diversity-and-inclusion-efforts-haven-t-worked-advocate-fong-jones-says-video|access-date=3 February 2022|website=]|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203153545/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2019-06-10/tech-diversity-and-inclusion-efforts-haven-t-worked-advocate-fong-jones-says-video|url-status=live}}</ref>


In 2019, Fong-Jones invested $200,000 into Tall Poppy, named for the ], a startup that provides health insurance for online harassment.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Captain|first=Sean|date=2019-05-16|title=This startup provides health insurance against online harassment|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/90340622/this-startup-provides-health-insurance-against-online-harassment|access-date=2022-02-03|website=]|language=en-US|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203165507/https://www.fastcompany.com/90340622/this-startup-provides-health-insurance-against-online-harassment|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2019, Fong-Jones invested $200,000 into Tall Poppy, a startup online harassment protection and ] named for the ].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Captain|first=Sean|date=16 May 2019|title=This startup provides health insurance against online harassment|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/90340622/this-startup-provides-health-insurance-against-online-harassment|access-date=3 February 2022|website=]|language=en-US|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203165507/https://www.fastcompany.com/90340622/this-startup-provides-health-insurance-against-online-harassment|url-status=live}}</ref>


==== The Solidarity Fund ==== ==== The Solidarity Fund ====
In 2020, Coworker.org incorporated The Solidarity Fund as a ] ],<ref>{{Cite web|title=About the Fund|url=https://coworkerfund.org/about-the-fund/|access-date=2022-02-03|website=Solidarity Fund|language=en-US|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203035311/https://coworkerfund.org/about-the-fund/|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=February 2022}} after a year of researching the legal intricacies involved in turning Fong-Jones' Google strike fund into a broader fund for the tech industry.<ref name=":9" /> To seed the fund, Fong-Jones donated the equivalent of her exit stock grant, which was distributed to 44 organizing tech workers.<ref name=":14" /><ref name=":13" /><ref>{{cite web|last=Ghaffary|first=Shirin|date=29 December 2021|title=Big Tech's employees are one of the biggest checks on its power|url=https://www.vox.com/recode/22848750/whistleblower-facebook-google-apple-employees|access-date=2022-02-03|website=]|language=en|archive-date=29 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211229135445/https://www.vox.com/recode/22848750/whistleblower-facebook-google-apple-employees|url-status=live}}</ref> Roughly half of the initial fund went to ] workers.<ref>{{cite news|last=Scheiber|first=Noam|date=9 April 2021|title=Union Loss May Bring New Phase of Campaign Against Amazon|language=en-US|work=]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/09/business/economy/amazon-labor-unions.html|access-date=2022-02-03|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203043041/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/09/business/economy/amazon-labor-unions.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Fong-Jones joined the board as its president, along with Whittaker.<ref name=":16">{{cite web|title=Our Team|url=https://coworkerfund.org/our-team/|access-date=2022-02-03|website=Solidarity Fund|language=en-US|archive-date=28 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128192318/https://coworkerfund.org/our-team/|url-status=live}}</ref> Laurence Berland and other Google workers joined as committee members.<ref name=":16" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Bhuiyan|first=Johana|date=9 October 2021|title='Welcome to the party': five past tech whistleblowers on the pitfalls of speaking out|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/oct/08/tech-whistleblowers-facebook-frances-haugen-amazon-google-pinterest|access-date=2022-02-03|website=]|language=en|archive-date=26 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220126012638/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/oct/08/tech-whistleblowers-facebook-frances-haugen-amazon-google-pinterest|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2020, Coworker.org incorporated The Solidarity Fund,<ref>{{Cite web|title=About the Fund|url=https://coworkerfund.org/about-the-fund/|access-date=3 February 2022|website=Solidarity Fund|language=en-US|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203035311/https://coworkerfund.org/about-the-fund/|url-status=live}}</ref> after a year of researching the legal intricacies involved in turning Fong-Jones' Google strike fund into a broader fund for the tech industry.<ref name=":9" /> To seed the fund, Fong-Jones donated the equivalent of her exit stock grant, which was distributed to 44 organizing tech workers.<ref name=":14" /><ref name=":13" /><ref>{{cite web|last=Ghaffary|first=Shirin|date=29 December 2021|title=Big Tech's employees are one of the biggest checks on its power|url=https://www.vox.com/recode/22848750/whistleblower-facebook-google-apple-employees|access-date=3 February 2022|website=]|language=en|archive-date=29 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211229135445/https://www.vox.com/recode/22848750/whistleblower-facebook-google-apple-employees|url-status=live}}</ref> Roughly half of the initial fund went to ] workers.<ref>{{cite news|last=Scheiber|first=Noam|date=9 April 2021|title=Union Loss May Bring New Phase of Campaign Against Amazon|language=en-US|work=]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/09/business/economy/amazon-labor-unions.html|access-date=3 February 2022|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203043041/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/09/business/economy/amazon-labor-unions.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Fong-Jones joined the board as its president, along with Whittaker.<ref name=":16">{{cite web|title=Our Team|url=https://coworkerfund.org/our-team/|access-date=3 February 2022|website=Solidarity Fund|language=en-US|archive-date=28 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128192318/https://coworkerfund.org/our-team/|url-status=live}}</ref> Laurence Berland and other Google workers joined as committee members.<ref name=":16" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Bhuiyan|first=Johana|date=9 October 2021|title='Welcome to the party': five past tech whistleblowers on the pitfalls of speaking out|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/oct/08/tech-whistleblowers-facebook-frances-haugen-amazon-google-pinterest|access-date=3 February 2022|website=]|language=en|archive-date=26 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220126012638/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/oct/08/tech-whistleblowers-facebook-frances-haugen-amazon-google-pinterest|url-status=live}}</ref>


In fall 2021, Fong-Jones and The Solidarity Fund created an emergency fund after ] workers, including committee member ],<ref name=":16" /> had been vocal about ]s, and ] workers protested over a ] show with transphobic comments. The fund offered stipends up to $5,000 for Apple and Netflix workers who were involved in organizing efforts.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Vanian|first=Jonathan|date=26 January 2022|title=Big Tech workers at their breaking point are using a new arsenal to fight back|url=https://fortune.com/2022/01/26/tech-crowdfunding-solidarity-fund-coworker-org-abk-workers-labor-activism/|access-date=2022-02-03|website=]|language=en|archive-date=28 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128215541/https://fortune.com/2022/01/26/tech-crowdfunding-solidarity-fund-coworker-org-abk-workers-labor-activism/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Au-Yeung|first=Angel|date=29 December 2021|title=Technology Employees Warn: Companies Should Expect More Uprisings In 2022|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/angelauyeung/2021/12/29/technology-employees-warn-companies-should-expect-more-uprisings-in-2022/|access-date=2022-02-03|website=]|language=en|archive-date=28 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128192328/https://www.forbes.com/sites/angelauyeung/2021/12/29/technology-employees-warn-companies-should-expect-more-uprisings-in-2022/|url-status=live}}</ref> In fall 2021, Fong-Jones and The Solidarity Fund created an emergency fund after ] workers, including committee member ],<ref name=":16" /> had been vocal about ]s, and ] workers protested over a ] show with transphobic comments. The fund offered stipends up to $5,000 for Apple and Netflix workers who were involved in organizing efforts.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Vanian|first=Jonathan|date=26 January 2022|title=Big Tech workers at their breaking point are using a new arsenal to fight back|url=https://fortune.com/2022/01/26/tech-crowdfunding-solidarity-fund-coworker-org-abk-workers-labor-activism/|access-date=3 February 2022|website=]|language=en|archive-date=28 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128215541/https://fortune.com/2022/01/26/tech-crowdfunding-solidarity-fund-coworker-org-abk-workers-labor-activism/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Au-Yeung|first=Angel|date=29 December 2021|title=Technology Employees Warn: Companies Should Expect More Uprisings In 2022|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/angelauyeung/2021/12/29/technology-employees-warn-companies-should-expect-more-uprisings-in-2022/|access-date=3 February 2022|website=]|language=en|archive-date=28 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128192328/https://www.forbes.com/sites/angelauyeung/2021/12/29/technology-employees-warn-companies-should-expect-more-uprisings-in-2022/|url-status=live}}</ref>


The Solidarity Fund was a winner of '']''<nowiki/>'s 2022 World Changing Ideas Awards.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Toussaint |first=Kristin |date=2022-05-03 |title=Tech employees organizing their workplaces drew on this mutual aid tool |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/90737935/tech-employees-organizing-their-workplaces-drew-on-this-mutual-aid-tool |access-date=2022-05-04 |website=] |language=en-US}}</ref> The Solidarity Fund was a winner of '']''<nowiki/>'s 2022 World Changing Ideas Awards.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Toussaint |first=Kristin |date=3 May 2022 |title=Tech employees organizing their workplaces drew on this mutual aid tool |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/90737935/tech-employees-organizing-their-workplaces-drew-on-this-mutual-aid-tool |access-date=4 May 2022 |website=] |language=en-US |archive-date=4 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220504053302/https://www.fastcompany.com/90737935/tech-employees-organizing-their-workplaces-drew-on-this-mutual-aid-tool |url-status=live }}</ref>


====Kiwi Farms====
== Personal life ==
In May 2023, Fong-Jones brought a ] case against the ]-based company Flow Chemical and its sole director, Vincent Zhen, who were associated with the ] used by KiwiFarms. The lawsuit alleged that the company was helping to keep the forum ], which has doxxed and targeted her and other LGBTQ people, online. An ] judgment was made against Flow Chemical and Zhen in July 2023, and, in an October 2023 ] they were ordered to pay Fong-Jones $445,000 plus costs.<ref name="guard-22oct2023">{{cite news |last1=Bogel |first1=Ariel |title=Defamation in the internet age: could a $400,000 Australian court ruling silence the notorious online forum Kiwi Farms? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/oct/23/defamation-in-the-internet-age-could-a-400000-australian-court-ruling-silence-the-notorious-online-forum-kiwi-farms |access-date=22 October 2023 |work=] |date=22 October 2023 |archive-date=22 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231022142433/https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/oct/23/defamation-in-the-internet-age-could-a-400000-australian-court-ruling-silence-the-notorious-online-forum-kiwi-farms |url-status=live }}</ref>
In 2012, while residing in ], Fong-Jones rented her car out through ] (Turo), a ] that allows you to rent your car out ], and the driver was involved in a ] that resulted in a ] of her vehicle and the loss of his life, along with damaging another vehicle, and injuring four other people, which the police determined was the fault of the deceased. Fong-Jones was contacted by her own insurance company, ], and learned she could be liable to a ] that exceeded Turo's coverage limits. She posted about the incident on ], which was later reported on.<ref name=":18" />


== Personal life ==
When asked about whether or not they would cover any personal liability to Fong-Jones for incident, Turo's insurance lawyer told ''New York Times'', "What happens in any sort of accident with insufficient coverage? That’s the societal burden of torts that have liability where there is no insurance coverage," and the paper suggested a lawyer covering both Turo and Fong-Jones may be a ]. The reporter was also unsure if federal laws that protects rental car companies from liability of accidents caused by renters.<ref name=":18" /> Months later,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Chernova|first=Yuliya|date=15 May 2013|title=N.Y. Shutdowns for SideCar, RelayRides Highlight Hurdles for Car- and Ride-Sharing Startups|language=en-US|work=Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-VCDB-12977|access-date=2022-02-03|issn=0099-9660|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203153545/https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-VCDB-12977|url-status=live}}</ref> Turo's service was suspended in ] (NY) after the ] contended that they were not licensed to sell third-party ], leaving owners liable for damaged caused by renters. Turo re-launched in NY for commercial hosts in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ludlow|first=Edward|date=3 December 2020|title=Car-Sharing Company Turo Returns to New York in Limited Form|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-03/car-sharing-company-turo-returns-to-new-york-in-limited-form|access-date=2022-02-03|website=]|language=en-US|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203153543/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-03/car-sharing-company-turo-returns-to-new-york-in-limited-form|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2012, while residing in ], Fong-Jones rented her car out through ] (now Turo), a ] that allows users to rent their cars out ]. The driver was involved in a ] that resulted in the loss of his life, a ] of the vehicle, damage to another vehicle, and injuries to four other people, which the police determined were the fault of the deceased. Fong-Jones was contacted by her own insurance company, ], and learned she could be liable to a ] that exceeded Turo's coverage limits. She posted about the incident on ], which was later reported on.<ref name=":18" /> When asked about whether or not they would cover any personal liability to Fong-Jones for the incident, Turo's insurance lawyer told ''The New York Times'', "What happens in any sort of accident with insufficient coverage? That’s the societal burden of torts that have liability where there is no insurance coverage," and the paper suggested a lawyer covering both Turo and Fong-Jones may be a ]. While federal law shielded rental car companies from liability for accidents, a reporter noted that it was not clear whether that protection applied to "people who rent out their cars for $10 an hour".<ref name=":18" /> Months later,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Chernova|first=Yuliya|date=15 May 2013|title=N.Y. Shutdowns for SideCar, RelayRides Highlight Hurdles for Car- and Ride-Sharing Startups|language=en-US|work=Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-VCDB-12977|access-date=3 February 2022|issn=0099-9660|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203153545/https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-VCDB-12977|url-status=live}}</ref> Turo's service was suspended in ] (NY) after the ] contended that they were not licensed to sell third-party ], leaving owners liable for damage caused by renters. Turo re-launched in NY for commercial hosts in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ludlow|first=Edward|date=3 December 2020|title=Car-Sharing Company Turo Returns to New York in Limited Form|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-03/car-sharing-company-turo-returns-to-new-york-in-limited-form|access-date=3 February 2022|website=]|language=en-US|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203153543/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-03/car-sharing-company-turo-returns-to-new-york-in-limited-form|url-status=live}}</ref>


Fong-Jones is ].<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":3" /> She said that she experienced ] that she could not cope with when she was 15, leaving her no choice but to start transitioning. She said that her parents were not supportive, and that her biological father disowned her. She said that she has given 40-50% of her income over several years to support other trans people.<ref name=":10" /> Fong-Jones is ].<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":3" /> She said that she experienced ] that she could not cope with when she was 15, leaving her no choice but to start ]. She said that her parents were not supportive, and that her biological father disowned her. She said that she has given 40–50% of her income over several years to support other trans people.<ref name=":10" />


== Selected works == == Selected works ==
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Latest revision as of 03:08, 24 December 2024

American software developer and activist

Liz Fong-Jones
A woman with long black hair, black headphones and dark wire-rimmed glasses looks at the camera. She is wearing a sleeveless purple top and choker-length necklace and is sitting in a gamer chair.Fong-Jones in 2020
Born1987 (age 37–38)
Alma materMassachusetts Institute of Technology
Occupation(s)Systems engineer, developer advocate
Years active2008–present
Employer(s)Google, Honeycomb
Known forLabor activism
Websitewww.lizthegrey.com Edit this at Wikidata

Liz Fong-Jones (born 1987 (1987)) is a site reliability engineer and developer advocate known for labor activism with her contributions to the Never Again pledge and her role in leading Google worker organization efforts. She is the president of the board of directors of the Solidarity Fund by Coworker, which she seeded with her own money. She is Honeycomb's field chief technology officer.

Education

Fong-Jones started attending college at the California Institute of Technology in 2005, then dropped out in 2007 when she realized she was not going to have enough money to finish school without going into debt. She later returned to school, graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science with a Bachelor of Science degree in 2014.

Career and activism

See also: Criticism of Google and Google worker organization

Fong-Jones started her career in technical support at a massively multi-player online game studio. She says that her career followed in the footsteps of her family members, who are mainly engineers.

Google (2008–2019)

2008–2016

In 2008, Fong-Jones joined Google, which she said is one of the best places for a transgender person to work, as a systems administrator in their Mountain View, California office, eventually becoming a software engineer in the field of site reliability at their Cambridge, Massachusetts office, followed by their New York City office. She says she began organizing within the company in 2010, focusing on "equity engineering" by working on fixing issues with products that adversely affected marginalized communities, like ensuring accessibility for customers who utilize assistive technology. She later expanded her advocacy to minority groups of employees within the company, like gender pay equity and transgender health care issues.

In 2011, she began taking fellow employee concerns to management, starting when Google+ was about to launch. On behalf of her and her colleagues, she warned executives from requiring users to disclose their real names. Following public outrage, part of the Nymwars, she successfully negotiated a new policy, which she subsequently communicated directly to concerned employees, making her an unofficial "union representative" for workers.

In 2016, Fong-Jones contributed to the codebase of the 2016 Never Again pledge, which made it easier to verify signatories' identities who pledged not to work on harmful projects.

"Google's Ideological Echo Chamber" memo (2017)

Fong-Jones said that while the activism always created tension, it turned hostile in 2017 following James Damore's Google's Ideological Echo Chamber memo, which argued that the underrepresentation of women in tech was due to innate psychological differences between men and women rather than bias, using talking points from evolutionary psychology. The data and arguments of the essay were widely criticized as "debunked" and "shaky scientism", and many concluded that it was naiveté rooted in politics attempting to use scientific rhetoric to make sexist power dynamics permanent. Damore was later terminated.

On 10 August 2017, Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Alphabet, Google's now-parent company, was set to answer employee questions about the controversy at the company's weekly all-hands, known as TGIF, but canceled it 45 minutes prior, citing the leak of the questions and fear of employee safety for "asking a question". Fong-Jones referred to it as an "excuse" to not answer questions like her own, like why they had let the Damore's memo stay on their servers for more than a month if it was grounds for termination, and that she felt it was "a triumph" for her harassers.

After a Google+ conversation criticizing the memo was leaked to an alt-right blog, Vox Popoli, and picked up by public figures such as Milo Yiannopoulos, Fong-Jones became a public target for harassment, blaming her and seven other vocal Google employees for Damore's termination. The harassment included death threats and doxing by other employees on websites such as Breitbart News and 4chan. The targeted employees filed complaints, and said that the security teams were vigilant about physical threats to employee safety, including offering to put doxxed employees in a hotel for a night. Danielle Brown, the company's chief diversity officer at the time, who was also a target of the harassment, was supportive, however none of the complaints about individual employees involved were acted upon, and they were told the leaks may fall under the protection of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 as "protected concerted activity". Several activist employees who spoke internally about racism and sexism in the wake of the harassment were terminated, and subsequently sued Google. The terms used by some of the reprimanded employees included "white privilege" and "white boy", which Google said in a statement was grounds for termination under their policy that "Promoting harmful stereotypes based on race or gender is prohibited".

In October 2017, Fong-Jones arranged for Coworker.org, a labor group that typically assists blue-collar workers in organizing, to give her colleagues a "know your rights" training. She said that when she and her coworkers felt that internal pressure had been fruitless, they wanted to understand what their legal rights were. They had understood that talking to the press was not allowed, due to the company's culture of secrecy. She said they quickly learned they had the right to talk to the press, and that using Google's social networks would not be legally protected.

Fong-Jones helped start a petition, along with a statement about her and her colleagues decision to go to the press, demanding a safer working environment, including better moderation of mailing lists, and rules against doxing colleagues. The petition gathered 2,600 signatures.

Walkout (2018)

In February 2018, concerns about Project Maven, a Pentagon project, which Fong-Jones had previously heard about from a small group of engineers in August 2017 working under Dr. Fei-Fei Li, the chief scientist for Artificial Intelligence (AI) on Google Cloud, materialized into an internal Google+ post by Fong-Jones. The post expressed "grave concerns" that Google might be assisting the United States Armed Forces carry out drone strikes.

Fong-Jones, and a group of engineers who posted concerns about being tasked with building an air gap, were referred to as "the Group of Nine" by outraged employees, causing Diane Greene, then-CEO of Google Cloud, to respond on Google+, which was subsequently leaked to The Intercept. Fong-Jones, who had been solicited for comment by a journalist at the outlet, feared that management would feel backed into a corner and offered to help leadership catch "the leaker". Meredith Whittaker, a former Google Cloud program manager, circulated a petition to other employees demanding cancellation of the contract, writing, "Google should not be in the business of war". In June 2018, Google responded to employee and public pressure, promising not to utilize AI for weapons or surveillance and not to renew its Maven contract.

In October 2018, Google was accused of mishandling sexual harassment complaints, including a $90 million severance package for Andy Rubin, who was accused of coercing a junior employee into sexual contact, which he denied. Fong-Jones said that the company "covers up harassment", contributing to a work environment that discourages women from reporting misconduct, saying that victims believe, "the men will be paid and the women will be pushed aside." In 2017, Fong-Jones had alleged on Google+ that she was sexually assaulted by a director at the company, which was later reported on. In a series of tweets, Fong-Jones criticized the company's culture as allowing leadership to operate "abuse of power relationships where there was no consent, or consent was impossible." She went on to name the director from her 2017 Google+ post as Richard DeVaul, the head of X Development, who was also named in The New York Times article about Rubin. DeVaul apologized for his behavior.

On 1 November 2018, across 50 cities, nearly 20,000 Google employees participated in the Google Walkout for Real Change demanding changes over their working conditions, ethical technology concerns, and how the company handles sexual harassment complaints. One of the catalysts was a report that Project Dragonfly (Dragonfly), a search engine built by Google for China involving censorship that was implicated in the persecution of the country's Muslim minority, the Uyghurs, had ignored the company's privacy review process and lied to the public about how close it was to launch. Pichai was later called to appear before the United States House Committee on the Judiciary at a hearing about Dragonfly. He testified that they had no current plans to launch a search product in China.

On 29 November 2018, Fong-Jones started a solidarity strike fund, consulting with Coworker.org (which is backed by Pierre Omidyar of the Omidyar Network), promising that if her fellow employees donated $100,000, she would match it, which she publicized on Twitter. The fund was matched within a few hours, and reached $250,000 within days. Fong-Jones told Fast Company she was seeking to start the fund for workers so that they "feel empowered to speak up about issues in the future", and later to Protocol, "I'm trying to use some of my financial privilege to help those who can't afford to be suddenly laid off". At the time, Fong-Jones noted that the pledges were not binding and that she would work with lawyers and labor organizations to set up a more formal fund.

One of the motivations to threaten to strike again was Dragonfly, and the allegation that the few people with knowledge of the project would be terminated if it was revealed to anyone else, which Google denied. Research scientist Dr. Jack Poulson resigned over the revelations. Fong-Jones threatened to resign if an employee was not appointed to the board of directors, one of the unmet demands from the walkout, by 1 February 2019.

Dragonfly had been the subject of the 1 November walkout, but also a petition in August 2018 co-signed by about 1,400 employees, and another on 27 November by more than 700. Employee concerns were downplayed by Pichai, who said they only wanted to learn what Google would "look like" in China, referring to Dragonfly as a "very early" "exploration", a statement that was later alleged to be false or misleading based on leaked internal communications.

Resignation (2019)

Fong-Jones voluntarily resigned from Google in early January 2019, saying she wanted to create a "more just world rather than exacerbating inequalities". She said she left a job where her compensation totaled about $800,000 in a year, and a half million in unvested restricted stock.

In her resignation, she offered that she would reconsider if the company conceded to the previous demand that Google place an employee on its board. Fong-Jones alleges that Google's Human Resources department tried to push her out prior to the end of her notice period, 1 February 2019, and filed a retaliation claim. Google's investigation determined that her allegations were unfounded. She later accepted a stock grant from Google close to around $100,000 to leave early, which she later donated to other organizing workers.

She told Business Insider, "If I didn’t care about Google I probably would have silently quit many, many months or years ago." Fong-Jones said that if she had stayed at Google and continued her activism she would've burned out, but applauded her colleagues who pressed on without her.

Following her departure, she shared responses to her resignation from the application Blind which were mainly derogatory comments, including transphobic and racist comments about her identity. Comments made on Blind are anonymous, but the comments Fong-Jones shared were in the Google section, which requires a Google email address to be authenticated. She said that it was "scary" to know that they were written by some of her coworkers.

In an essay she published on Medium in February 2019, she said, "I have grave concerns about how strategic decisions are made at Google today, and who is missing a seat at the bargaining table."

2019–present

In February 2019, Fong-Jones joined the startup named Honeycomb, a software observability service, as the company's first developer advocate. She hopes to help engineers better understand distributed systems. She said she is impressed by the company's commitment to diversity and corporate ethics, with a large number of its leadership roles held by women. In 2021, Fong-Jones spoke at Pulumi's Cloud Engineering Summit for Honeycomb. She is Honeycomb's Field Chief Technology Officer.

Fong-Jones has continued to publicly advocate for inclusion, equity, and diversity in the workplace. She has said that the most important thing companies can do is to involve employees in structural decision-making processes, pointing to European Works Councils as an example for American companies to follow.

In 2019, Fong-Jones invested $200,000 into Tall Poppy, a startup online harassment protection and reputation management company named for the Roman metaphor.

The Solidarity Fund

In 2020, Coworker.org incorporated The Solidarity Fund, after a year of researching the legal intricacies involved in turning Fong-Jones' Google strike fund into a broader fund for the tech industry. To seed the fund, Fong-Jones donated the equivalent of her exit stock grant, which was distributed to 44 organizing tech workers. Roughly half of the initial fund went to Amazon workers. Fong-Jones joined the board as its president, along with Whittaker. Laurence Berland and other Google workers joined as committee members.

In fall 2021, Fong-Jones and The Solidarity Fund created an emergency fund after Apple workers, including committee member Cher Scarlett, had been vocal about unfair labor practices, and Netflix workers protested over a Dave Chappelle show with transphobic comments. The fund offered stipends up to $5,000 for Apple and Netflix workers who were involved in organizing efforts.

The Solidarity Fund was a winner of Fast Company's 2022 World Changing Ideas Awards.

Kiwi Farms

In May 2023, Fong-Jones brought a defamation case against the Brisbane-based company Flow Chemical and its sole director, Vincent Zhen, who were associated with the IP range used by KiwiFarms. The lawsuit alleged that the company was helping to keep the forum Kiwi Farms, which has doxxed and targeted her and other LGBTQ people, online. An interlocutory judgment was made against Flow Chemical and Zhen in July 2023, and, in an October 2023 default judgement they were ordered to pay Fong-Jones $445,000 plus costs.

Personal life

In 2012, while residing in Massachusetts, Fong-Jones rented her car out through RelayRides (now Turo), a ridesharing company that allows users to rent their cars out peer-to-peer. The driver was involved in a traffic collision that resulted in the loss of his life, a total loss of the vehicle, damage to another vehicle, and injuries to four other people, which the police determined were the fault of the deceased. Fong-Jones was contacted by her own insurance company, Commerce Insurance Group, and learned she could be liable to a lawsuit that exceeded Turo's coverage limits. She posted about the incident on Google+, which was later reported on. When asked about whether or not they would cover any personal liability to Fong-Jones for the incident, Turo's insurance lawyer told The New York Times, "What happens in any sort of accident with insufficient coverage? That’s the societal burden of torts that have liability where there is no insurance coverage," and the paper suggested a lawyer covering both Turo and Fong-Jones may be a conflict of interest. While federal law shielded rental car companies from liability for accidents, a reporter noted that it was not clear whether that protection applied to "people who rent out their cars for $10 an hour". Months later, Turo's service was suspended in New York state (NY) after the Department of Financial Services contended that they were not licensed to sell third-party insurance, leaving owners liable for damage caused by renters. Turo re-launched in NY for commercial hosts in 2021.

Fong-Jones is transgender. She said that she experienced dysphoria that she could not cope with when she was 15, leaving her no choice but to start transitioning. She said that her parents were not supportive, and that her biological father disowned her. She said that she has given 40–50% of her income over several years to support other trans people.

Selected works

See also

References

  1. Tuck Woodstock (18 March 2024). "Liz Fong-Jones" (Podcast). Gender Reveal. Event occurs at 00:11:40.
  2. ^ Griffin, Riley (21 March 2019). "Get to Know Your Trans Co-Workers". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on 3 February 2022. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  3. ^ "3. Liz Fong-Jones – "You *can* be successful as a trans person. I wish there were more of us."". Your First Million. 8 June 2019. Archived from the original on 3 February 2022. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  4. Liz Fong-Jones (11 August 2017). "My GPA on leaving @Caltech in 2007 was 2.2 b/c parental abuse and transition trauma. Graduated @MIT EECS in 2014 w/ 4.9/5.0 GPA #WITBragDay" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 5 September 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022 – via Twitter.
  5. ^ Lieber, Ron (13 April 2012). "Fatal Collision Makes Car-Sharing Worries No Longer Theoretical". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 3 February 2022. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  6. Dan, Pop, Popcast – Episode 25 – Observability and MMO's with Liz Fong-Jones, archived from the original on 3 February 2022, retrieved 3 February 2022
  7. ^ Stangel, Luke (7 January 2019). "Prominent Google engineer and activist Liz Fong-Jones is heading to a startup". Biz Journals. Archived from the original on 8 September 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  8. ^ Captain, Sean (15 October 2018). "How a transgender Google engineer fights prejudice with empathy". Fast Company. Archived from the original on 2 February 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  9. ^ Tiku, Nitasha (26 January 2018). "The Dirty War Over Diversity Inside Google". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on 15 September 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  10. ^ Cook, Katy (2020). The psychology of Silicon Valley : ethical threats and emotional unintelligence in the tech industry. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-3-030-27364-4. OCLC 1125070590. Archived from the original on 24 February 2022. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  11. ^ Tiku, Nitasha (13 August 2019). "Three Years of Misery Inside Google, the Happiest Company in Tech". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on 27 November 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  12. ^ Bhuiyan, Johana (6 November 2018). "How the Google walkout transformed tech workers into activists". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 3 February 2022. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
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