Tech giant Google have fired one of their contractors who worked as a video producer, after he made a complaint for the existence of a religious group which held a high level of influence within the company, prompting him to file a lawsuit.
The contractor, who’s name is Kevin Lloyd, worked in Google’s Developer Studio (GDS) and reported that there were at least 12 members of the cult who were in the same department, according to a report by The New York Times.
Lloyd claims that they all held significant positions in the department and (ab)used the company’s money to make purchases for their own cult, such as a “state-of-the-art sound system installed in the Oregon House home of one Fellowship member who worked for the team as a sound designer.”
The Times report went on to find that the cult is actually known as the Fellowship of Friends, a group that believes they can reach “higher consciousness” by “embracing arts and culture” and their previously mentioned estate in Oregon House, California, spans 1,200 acres.
There’s also a podcast on Spotify called “Revelations” that aims to bring the “dark secrets” of the Fellowship to light. You can check it out here.
The members of the Fellowship would all be placed in various positions during Google’s corporate events, such as serving drinks, working at the registration desk, playing music or even providing massages, according to the Times report. The wine served at these events was bought by one of the Fellowship’s members, who apparently had his own production company.
One of the most long-serving members of the Fellowship is Peter Lubbers, who’s also the head of the GDS, using his position to bring in a number of new members to the cult.
Lloyd was offered his position at GDS via his employment agency, AGS, however it was also reported by the Times through another contractor, Erik Johanson, that they used this partnership to recruit members for the Fellowship.
The Times has confirmed these accusations through a series of documents regarding the Fellowship’s numbers, images from the aforementioned events and cross-examinations of previous Google employees.
Lloyd’s initial complaint regarding the existence of the cult and their abuse of power was disregarded by the company, who responded by firing him soon after. They have also replied to these accusations by refuting them, pointing out that Lloyd’s removal was due to his poor contribution.
Lloyd is accusing the tech giant for wrongful termination, emotional distress, retaliation and failure to protect him against discrimination. But you can read more about it on his personal blog post, where he clearly documents everything he went through during his time at Google and talks about the existence of this cult.
