Former director alleges supervisor was intoxicated at work, made racial remarks, drew 20+ complaints
A former Google Cloud executive claims he was told promotions were off-limits because he's White—then blacklisted after complaining about his intoxicated supervisor.
William Huesman worked as Enterprise Sales Director at Google Cloud from October 2019 until his resignation in February 2024. His lawsuit, filed November 3, 2025, in federal court in Florida, paints a troubling picture of what can happen when HR departments fail to act on repeated complaints.
The allegations center on Snehanshu Shah, a Managing Director at Google, who Huesman says had a well-documented history of showing up to work intoxicated. According to the filing, Shah regularly fell asleep in meetings due to excessive alcohol consumption and acted belligerently due to his intoxication. Google allegedly received more than twenty complaints about Shah during his employment but instructed employees to just "deal with it" and never took action against him.
For the first few years of his tenure, Huesman enjoyed positive performance reviews under then-President of Google Cloud Rob Enslin, who resigned in April 2022. But things shifted in January 2022 when Shah allegedly began targeting him after Huesman tried to salvage a damaged relationship with Deloitte, one of Google's major consulting partners.
During a January 20, 2022 meeting to discuss upcoming projects, Shah allegedly verbally attacked Deloitte's senior management without provocation. Huesman attempted damage control, but senior Deloitte executives—including their Cloud Transformation Leader and two Managing Directors—demanded explanations and insisted Shah be removed from the account.
That evening, Huesman says Shah called him while intoxicated and launched into a tirade, threatening to "have his head" if he didn't follow orders. The lawsuit states it was not atypical for Shah to drunkenly call other Google employees.
The situation escalated over the following week. Huesman and colleague Andy Walker held what participants described as a "recovery meeting" with Deloitte on January 28 to repair the relationship. Deloitte demanded Shah be removed and that Huesman and Walker act as Google's primary contacts.
When Huesman reported Shah's behavior to Alison Paul, Managing Director of Deloitte Global Alliance at Google, she allegedly acknowledged receiving prior reports about Shah, had firsthand knowledge of his behavior and discriminatory nature, had received calls from Deloitte complaining about him, and promised to file a formal complaint. Though she made this representation on two occasions, she never did. The lawsuit suggests Paul feared retaliation given Shah's considerable authority at the company.
After notes from that meeting reached Shah, Huesman says the retaliation began. He later learned from Google employees with personal knowledge that Shah had blacklisted him in direct response to his complaint, preventing promotions and negatively impacting his compensation.
The blacklist's effects were immediate. Despite Deloitte requesting that Huesman and Walker spearhead an upcoming summit, both were excluded from planning emails and attendee lists. In one email, Rakesh Kumar stated his team had "honored" Craig Cook's "point of view" on Huesman and Walker, which is why neither was invited. Cook allegedly threatened to withdraw attendance and his group's funding if Huesman participated.
When Stephanie Moran, Partner Development Manager for Deloitte, questioned why Huesman was excluded despite being Google's designated SAP resource on the Deloitte relationship, she documented that Cook stated Huesman and Walker had been placed on an internal blacklist. She wrote to Cook questioning why Google maintained such lists and calling the actions unacceptable violations of company policy.
The alleged discrimination wasn't just about retaliation. During his 2022 year-end performance review, Huesman's direct supervisor Brian Mills allegedly told him explicitly: "don't expect a company like Google to ever promote a white guy in this culture." Shah had earlier stated to Huesman in front of others that he didn't want "rich, white guys who drive Mercedes and golf all day" at Google. The lawsuit notes Huesman doesn't play golf and describes the remark as clearly based on a derogatory stereotype of White people.
Huesman filed formal complaints with HR in May and October 2022, detailing Shah's harassment and discriminatory behavior. He had previously discussed Shah's discriminatory conduct with Jay Meissner, Head of Global Systems Integration Partners, on at least ten prior occasions. Google's investigation, according to the lawsuit, closed without contacting a single witness Huesman identified, including Doug Swan, Andy Walker, Sharon Tran, Edy Sardilli, and Stephanie Moran. HR allegedly said Shah was "getting help" and Huesman "just needed to deal with it."
The complaints didn't just come from inside Google. Deloitte made numerous written and verbal requests for Shah and Cook to be disciplined and removed from any interactions given their pattern and practice of harassment and unprofessional behavior. Despite these explicit requests, Google refused. The lawsuit also states Google Germany, Google Canada, and Google's West Coast Market Unit all refused to allow Shah to be involved in their deals due to his unprofessional behavior.
By late 2022, Huesman transferred to Google Accenture Business Group hoping to escape the toxic environment Shah created. The blacklist allegedly followed him. His salary stagnated and he was passed over for promotions despite the division change.
Huesman stayed through 2023, unwilling to walk away from one million dollars in Google stock that was close to vesting. But on February 21, 2024, he resigned, forfeiting the stock. Given comments from several supervisors, it was clear he had no future at Google because of his race.
The lawsuit notes that despite being the subject of at least twenty complaints relating to discriminatory, harassing, and retaliatory behavior, Google has taken no action against Shah, not even the slightest reprimand. Shah continues to be protected by Google and allowed to continue his behavior.
The filing also notes that both Meissner and Chris Voss have been demoted, and Meissner has had complaints submitted against him. Voss subsequently left Google.
The case raises uncomfortable questions about how HR departments handle complaints when the accused holds significant organizational power, and what happens when business partners raise flags about employee behavior.
No determination has been made on the merits of these allegations, and Google has not yet responded to the filing.
