Fired Google engineers seek US federal probe

Four employees fired by Google ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday have said that they were seeking a federal investigation into their dismissal, which they claimed was in retaliation for their labour organisation efforts.

The dismissal of the group dubbed the "Thanksgiving Four" on social media highlighted deepening tensions at Google, which had stated the employees violated data security policies.

A Medium post signed by the four said Google "fired us for engaging in protected labor organising" at the Silicon Valley giant.

"We spoke up when we saw Google making unethical business decisions that create a workplace that is harmful to us and our colleagues," said the posting signed by engineers Laurence Berland, Paul Duke, Rebecca Rivers and Sophie Waldman.

"We participated in legally protected labor organizing, fighting to improve workplace conditions for all Google workers."