Engineer behind controversial memo is out

The Google engineer who wrote the 3,300-word memo criticizing the company’s diversity efforts that has roiled Silicon Valley is out.

A source inside the company told CNN Tech that James Damore, the employee behind the memo, was no longer in an online directory that lists every Google (GOOGL, Tech30) employee on Tuesday. He was listed on Monday night.

“It is official,” the source said.

Damore said in an email to Bloomberg that he was fired for “perpetuating gender stereotypes.”

Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal, Reuters and others have reported that the engineer who wrote the memo, James Damore, has been fired. Google has declined to comment.

Damore shared his manifesto internally last week. It argued women are not biologically fit for tech roles.

He argued that the company’s diversity programs — including seminars that teach young girls coding skills — are “highly politicized.” The diversity work, he said, “alienates non-progressives.”

Damore also said he believes Google’s commitment to hire more women stands to make the company less competitive, and that the gender wage gap is a myth.

The document began circulating widely among employees on Friday and was leaked to multiple media outlets over the weekend.

On Monday night, Google CEO Sundar Pichai cut his family vacation short to address the outcry over the document. Pichai called parts of the memo “offensive” and said it violated the company’s Code of Conduct.

Related: Google’s open culture tested by engineer’s anti-diversity memo

“Our job is to build great products for users that make a difference in their lives,” he wrote in the email. “To suggest a group of our colleagues have traits that make them less biologically suited to that work is offensive and not OK.”

A source inside the company told CNNMoney that when an employee violates the company’s code of conduct, it often results in firing.

Some employees had used an internal discussion group to call for the engineer to be fired. Others have supported the employee’s right to voice his opinions, if not supporting the opinions themselves.

Damore’s exit from Google could add to the fierce debate. For most of its history, Google has prided itself on being a haven a for free speech and open debate among employees.