The suit alleges one hiring decision at Google snowballed into years of inequitable treatment
A former Google executive claims the company under-leveled him at hire, blocked his promotions for years, then fired him months after he complained about race discrimination.
Kenneth Marco Hardie spent nearly eight years at Google, generating what he says were hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for the tech giant. But in a lawsuit filed November 13 in federal court in Washington, D.C., he argues the company never properly valued his work—or him.
The case, which has not yet been adjudicated, paints a portrait of how hiring and leveling decisions can ripple through an employee's entire career. Hardie, who is Black, joined Google in August 2017 with 13 years of experience, a bachelor's degree from Yale University, and a Master of Business Administration from New York University. He says Google hired him as a Level 6 Head of Industry for its Government & Advocacy division, even though the company typically placed candidates with 12 or more years of experience at Level 7.
That one-level difference, he argues, set the stage for years of inequity in pay, promotion opportunities, and career trajectory.
The numbers Hardie posted were strong by any measure. In 2018, his leadership increased growth in the Government & Advocacy business line from 12 percent year-over-year to over 30 percent year-over-year. In 2019, his team generated more than 40 percent year-over-year growth. By 2020, the business had accelerated to 182 percent year-over-year, earning about $125 million for Google. He received performance ratings of "Exceeds Expectations" in 2018 and 2019, and Google invited him to speak to over 700 managers in 2019 and approximately 2,000 employees at a YouTube event in 2020 about his work on the U.S. Census.
Yet when it came time for promotions, Hardie says he watched less experienced White colleagues move ahead. His direct supervisor, Courtney Kuhl Rose, promoted Ali-Jae Henke—a White woman who had been elevated from Level 5 to Level 6 the previous year in 2018—to Level 7 in 2019. Hardie, despite his track record, was told he needed to "get something big over the finish line."
When Rose left her role in Fall 2021, Hardie expressed interest in the open Director position. Rose told him there was a "strong possibility" he wouldn't be eligible because he hadn't been at Level 7 for 18 months—a requirement Hardie says had never been communicated to him before and seemed designed to keep him and other qualified Black candidates out of contention.
Things grew worse when Henke became his supervisor in March 2022. Hardie alleges she refused to reassign business opportunities equitably, denied him adequate support staff, and publicly reprimanded him in ways his White peers never experienced. In 2023, his performance rating dropped to "Significant Impact"—still a positive rating given to 70 percent of Google employees, but a notable decline from his earlier reviews.
In November 2024, Hardie raised his concerns with Google's HR team. He met with HR Business Partner Jacky Schiestel on November 10 and People Consultant Cayla Tankersly on November 18, laying out what he viewed as biased treatment. When he escalated the matter to his skip-level manager, Adam Stewart, in December, Stewart allegedly suggested Hardie "reinvent himself somewhere else."
On January 29, 2025, Hardie received another "Significant Impact" rating. Five weeks later, on March 3, Google terminated him for what it called "performance challenges"—issues Hardie says were never previously identified.
He filed a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on April 22, 2025, and is now seeking damages under federal and D.C. civil rights laws.
