Ex-Google Contractor Settles Lawsuit Over Religious Sect

A lawsuit that claimed he was fired for complaining about a religious sect in a business unit of the company has been resolved.

Kevin Lloyd said in the suit that he was fired for complaining about the dominance of the Fellowship of Friends, a religious organization based in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

The leader of the business unit hired many of the religious group's members onto the team as contractors, helped some advance to full-time positions and gave work to many others when staffing company conferences and parties according to a lawsuit.

The suit had been resolved, according to the company. Mr. Lubbers was no longer employed by the search engine. Mr. Lubbers was not available for comment.

A year ago, Mr. Lloyd brought a suit against both the company he worked for and the one he was hired by. Both companies were accused of violating a California employment law.

Contract employees now outnumber full-time workers at the company. Many members of the fellowship joined the company as contractors.

The suit was settled last week. The terms of the settlement were not made public.

The fellowship of friends was founded in 1970 by a man named Robert Earl Burton. About 500 people live in and around Oregon House, Calif., a small town 180 miles north of Silicon Valley.

Mr. Burton believed in the power of the arts to raise consciousness. He cultivated an extravagant lifestyle with help from his followers, who would often donate 10 percent of their monthly earnings to the organization.

A lawsuit was filed in 1984 by a former member who claimed that young men who joined the organization had been forcibly and sexually suck by Burton. A former member accused Mr. Burton of sexual harassment when he was a child. The suits were not heard in court.

The lawyer for Mr. Lloyd won a suit against Kelly Services in 2008. The former Kelly employee claimed that she was not promoted because she was not a member of the fellowship. She was ordered to pay $6.5 million in damages.

Mr. Lubbers used to work at Kelly Services before he took a job at GOOGLE.