Google fired one in every of its staff for blowing the whistle on a “doomsday” cult-like “non secular group” throughout the firm.
The worker, Kevin Lloyd, a video producer who labored within the Google Developer Studio, is now suing the tech large, claiming he was unfairly fired in retaliation after he raised alarm concerning the spiritual group.
Lloyd warns the group referred to as the Fellowship of Associates has more and more gained energy on the firm by hiring members of its cult-like group to fill key positions.
Members of the Fellowship of Associates imagine they’re referred to as to create a brand new civilization following a doomsday occasion and implores its followers to achieve enlightenment to transcend a state of “waking sleep” state. The group, which has roughly 1,500 members internationally, additionally believes enlightenment is attained by embracing arts together with ballet, portray, opera and wine. Associates of Fellowship
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The alleged cult-like group, which collects 10 % of its’ members’ revenue, was based within the Seventies by Robert Earl Burton, who has been sued for sexually assaulting male members of the group.
The Fellowship of Associates founder Robert Earl Burton (proper)
“When you turn into conscious of this, you turn into accountable,” Kevin Lloyd advised the New York Instances whereas recounting his choice to sound the alarm on the group’s infiltration of Google. “You may’t look away.”
In his lawsuit, which was filed in a Californian Superior Court docket in Silicon Valley, Lloyd claims Peter Lubbersthe, director of the Google Developer Studio and a member of Fellowship of Associates, is funneling cash from Google to counterpoint the spiritual group and that he was wrongfully terminated for informing his supervisors concerning the situation.
“Mr. Lubbers gained standing and reward relative to the rise of cash flowing to the fellowship by way of his efforts at Google that put (and saved) different fellowship members – straight or not directly – on Google’s payroll,” the grievance states.
The grievance additionally alleges Lubbers and the 12 members of the non-denominational spiritual group work at Google are utilizing their positions to line up work for its members throughout the firm.
Lubbers confirmed he’s nonetheless a member of the sect and contends recruiting different Fellowship of Associates members for jobs at Google presents no battle of curiosity.
“My private spiritual beliefs are a deeply held personal matter,” Lubbers advised the Instances. “In all my years in tech, they’ve by no means performed a job in hiring. I’ve at all times carried out my function by bringing in the fitting expertise for the scenario — bringing in the fitting distributors for the roles.”
Fellowship of Associates has an extended historical past of intercourse trafficking. Burton allegedly engages in weird intercourse rituals, orders pregnant girls to have abortions, preys on younger males and has slept with a whole lot of individuals per day throughout “love fests.”
In November 2021, investigative reporter Jennings Brown in contrast the Fellowship of Associates to the intercourse cult NXIVM.
Brown spent three years researching the spiritual group , visited Apollo, its world headquarters in Yuba County, California, and has carried out interviews with seveal former male members who claimed they had been sexually abused by Burton.
“They advised me about these intercourse rituals the place [the leader] would try to have intercourse with 100 followers in a day. He referred to as them love fests.” Brown advised the New York Submit. “Some of the horrifying issues I heard was the rule about abortions. I very a lot bought the sense that girls had been second or third-class residents. I feel a whole lot of them got here as a result of their husbands or boyfriends had been involved in non secular awakening.”
Robert Earl Burton and the Fellowship of Associates
Extra from the Submit:
In 1996, a lawsuit was filed by former member Troy Buzbee, who alleged Burton sexually exploited him when he was 17. In response to Brown’s reporting, within the mid-Nineties, Burton sexually assaulted Troy’s father, Richard Buzbee. Says Brown within the podcast, “Richard then advised family and friends concerning the abuse and located many others who alleged related experiences — together with, to his horror, his personal son. Richard included this in a letter he despatched out to different Fellowship members to warn them. He wrote: ‘The best shock got here from my son Troy, who advised me that Robert had been actively pursuing him for intercourse from the time he entered the varsity — at age seventeen.’
The swimsuit was settled out of court docket. And in 2005, Brown reviews, US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) investigated a tip that the Fellowship was bringing non-US residents into the nation and paying for his or her spiritual visas, intending for the recruits to be in sexual servitude to Burton. In 2012, Brown discovered from federal paperwork obtained in a Freedom of Info Act request, the Drug Enforcement Administration, together with ICE, raided the Apollo compound, calling it a seek for proof of drug manufacturing.However nothing got here of it.
Lloyd is demanding a jury trial and monetary compensation for “spiritual discrimination, wrongful termination, retaliation and associated reason behind motion.”
A Google spokesperson maintains Lloyd was fired in February 2021 for efficiency causes and insists the corporate adheres to a coverage that forestalls discrimination.
“Now we have longstanding worker and provider insurance policies in place to stop discrimination and conflicts of curiosity, and we take these critically,” the spokesperson advised the New York Instances. “It’s towards the regulation to ask for the spiritual affiliations of those that work for us or for our suppliers, however we’ll after all totally look into these allegations for any irregularities or improper contracting practices. If we discover proof of coverage violations, we’ll take motion.”
