Hundreds of Oracle employees walked out of work in protest of Chairman Larry Ellison’s decision to host a fundraising event for President Trump.
The protest, called No Ethics/No Work, involved about 300 employees walking out of the office or stopping remote work at noon local time Thursday and devoting the rest of the day to volunteer work or civic engagement.
A Change.org petition was started almost immediately after it was learned that Ellison would be hosting Trump, and it received over 8,000 signatures by the time of the walkout.
“For me, opposition to Trump is no longer a matter of political viewpoint, of disagreeing with his mostly awful policies,” an Oracle developer tweeted Wednesday. “It is a matter of whether you believe in the rule of law.”
Petition organizers insisted that Ellison give money to humanitarian causes such as climate change, diversify the company board, and publicly denounce the Trump administration.
“We are disappointed that Oracle Founder and CTO Larry Ellison’s support of Donald Trump does not affirm Oracle’s core values of diversity, inclusiveness, and ethical business conduct,” the petition’s opening statement read.
After listing the many ways that they believe Trump has hurt the country, the petition organizers argued that Ellison’s support of Trump hurts the Oracle brand.
“Larry Ellison’s personal implicit endorsement and financial support of Donald Trump not only damages our brand perception and misrepresents the diverse views of our company, but it adversely affects the morale of the individuals and communities who comprise Oracle,” the statement read.
Employees who took part in the walkout used personal and vacation time to avoid retribution from their employer, according to Bloomberg News.
Roughly 100 protesters organized by the liberal group Courageous Resistance showed up along the roadway near the fundraiser with signs criticizing Trump.
