A Google engineer who was fired for a memo assailing the company’s diversity policies is considering legal action, but seemingly faces long odds of a successful case.

James Damore caused an uproar and ultimately lost his job after authoring a 10-page essay that said women are not biologically fit for certain technology roles. He also warned against “arbitrary social engineering of tech just to make it appealing to equal portions of both men and women” and claimed that efforts to hire more women via such methods are “misguided and biased.”

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But there is precedent in California of courts ruling in favour of employees who were fired for being outspoken about their views, noted William Gould, a professor emeritus at Stanford who chaired the NLRB. In one case, he noted, the law sided with a pacifist who had shared his anti-war views with coworkers.

“Employees can speak out, but I think the employer’s defence would be that this guy was speaking about women in a very stereotypical manner that was likely to prove to be disruptive,” said Mr Gould.

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As for the firing, another consideration according to Mr Gould, is Google’s obligation to prevent sexual harassment. The company is already under scrutiny for how much it pays its female employees, with the Department of Labor suing for salary data.

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“If Google fired him for filing a charge with the NLRB that would be against the law, straight-up, regardless of the merits of what he’s pursuing,” Mr Gould said, but “he’s got to show that he was involved in concerted activities, that more than one employee was involved. If he doesn’t show that he’s out, case dismissed.”