A Google executive claims he was booted by the tech giant for rejecting a high-ranking female boss’ grabby advances at a posh company dinner.
Ryan Olohan, 48, accuses Google and one of its top executives, Tiffany Miller, of firing him after Miller groped him at a Chelsea restaurant in December 2019 and told him she knew he liked Asian women — which Miller is, according to a blockbuster federal lawsuit filed Nov. 30 in Manhattan.
Miller, director of Google’s programmatic media, rubbed Olohan’s abs, complimented his physique, and told him her marriage lacked “spice,” according to court papers.
The alleged hands-on encounter unfolded during a drunken company gathering at Fig & Olive on West 13th Street shortly after Olohan was promoted to managing director of food, beverages, and restaurants and joined a new management team that included Miller in Google’s Manhattan offices, according to the lawsuit.
While Olohan, a married father of seven, said he was initially uncomfortable bringing up the incident because many of his colleagues were drunk, his coworkers later chalked up the behavior to “Tiffany being Tiffany,” court papers say.
Olohan said he reported the issue to Google’s human resources department the following week, but nothing ever came of the complaint.
The HR rep “openly admitted … that if the complaint was ‘in reverse’ — a female accusing a white male of harassment — the complaint would certainly be escalated,” according to the lawsuit. x
Olohan claims Miller began retaliating against him after he made the complaint by criticizing him and reporting him to human resources for “microaggressions,” although the complaint does not specify what Miller accused him of.
The retaliation allegedly continued at a Google-hosted event in December 2021 in which Miller drunkenly admonished Olohan in front of his colleagues. The rancor was so bad that colleagues encouraged Miller to move to the other end of the table, according to the lawsuit.
Miller later apologized and “although Google was aware that Miller’s continued harassment of Olohan stemmed from his rejection of her sexual advances, it again took no action,” the suit claims.
Miller drunkenly berated Olohan yet again during a company get-together at a karaoke bar in April 2022, where she mocked him upon arrival and reiterated that she knew he preferred Asian women over white women — knowing that Olohan’s wife is Asian, according to court papers.
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Olohan said he began feeling increasing pressure from his supervisor, who told him that there were “obviously too many white guys” on his management team. In July he was encouraged to fire a male employee to make room on his team for a woman, the suit claims.
The following month, Google fired Olohan, ending his employment after 16 years at the company.
During a videoconference call, Olohan said he was told by the Google Employee Investigations team that he was being fired because he was not “inclusive.”
When he asked why he was non-inclusive, Olohan was told that he had shown favoritism towards high-performing employees and that he was “ableist” for commenting on other employees’ “walking pace.”
Olohan’s lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, names both Google and Miller as defendants and accuses them of discrimination, retaliation, and fostering a hostile work environment.
In September, Olohan joined the Klick Group, an advertising company focused on life sciences, as the executive vice president of growth, according to a press release by the company.
Google and Olohan did not return messages seeking comments. Miller could not be reached.
[Written in collaboration with other media outlets with information from the following sources]
