Thousands of Google LLC employees took to the streets last November to protest sexual harassment in the company and forced arbitration. Now, some of those who helped organize the protest say they have been retaliated against.

In a letter that was shared with other Google employees on Monday, Claire Stapleton and Meredith Whittaker both said they have suffered at the hands of the company for their actions. The pair say they will have a “town hall” meeting on Friday to discuss the alleged retaliation.

In the letter, which was sent to Wired, both employees say they were demoted after the protests. Whittaker stated that she was told her “role would be changed dramatically.” She had been leading a team working with Google on AI ethics and the AI Now Institute.

Stapleton said she was similarly let go from a managing position she had held for five years in YouTube’s marketing department. “I was told that I would be demoted, that I’d lose half my reports, and that a project that was approved was no longer on the table,” she said. “I escalated to HR and to my VP, which made things significantly worse.”

Both claim that their work was rebuffed and they saw no other path other than hiring a lawyer. “Google has a culture of retaliation, which too often works to silence women, people of color, and gender minorities,” said the letter. After hiring a lawyer, Stapleton said her demotion was reversed, although the letter doesn’t mention if Whittaker’s role at the company had been affected.

Moreover, the pair wrote, during the walkout they had collected 350 statements from employees and they found a recurring theme. They claim those stories show a number of employees who had reported “discrimination, abuse, and unethical conduct” were “punished, sidelined, and pushed out.”

“We prohibit retaliation in the workplace, and investigate all allegations,” Google responded in a statement. “Employees and teams are regularly and commonly given new assignments, or reorganized, to keep pace with evolving business needs. There has been no retaliation here.”

Image: Travis Wise/Flickr