Google is accused of issuing an illegal “gag order” that prevents workers from discussing antitrust cases

A union representing Google employees is demanding the tech giant lift a so-called illegal “gag order” that bars them from discussing landmark antitrust cases that could upend the company's business.

On August 5, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google was a “monopolist” with an illegal stranglehold on the online search market.

On the same day, Kent Walker, Google's president of global affairs, instructed employees not to comment on the case inside or outside of the workplace.

According to a copy of the Aug. 15 filing obtained by The Post, the Alphabet Workers Union alleges that Walker violated a federal labor law with the “overly board directive” to suppress “worker speech” related to the antitrust disputes.

“Our employer continues to demonstrate a blatant disregard for federal labor law and our right to discuss working conditions with co-workers – including proposed federal antitrust remedies that could impact many of our jobs at Google,” said Parul Koul, a Google software engineer and president of the Alphabet Workers Union.

Mehta is expected to decide on remedies to Google's search monopoly by next summer.

The Justice Department recently indicated that it might seek to break up Google through a forced divestment of parts of its business, such as its Chrome web browser.

Google rejected the union's complaint.

“We respect Google employees’ right to discuss their terms of employment,” Google spokesman Peter Schottenfels said in a statement. “As usual, we simply ask employees not to discuss ongoing litigation on behalf of Google without prior approval.”

The Verge was first to report the complaint.

The labor complaint is the latest sign of discord between Google and its workforce. In April, the tech giant fired dozens of employees who took part in anti-Israel office sit-ins.

There is also a separate DOJ antitrust investigation underway targeting Google's alleged monopoly on digital advertising technology. Final hearings in the case are scheduled to begin next month.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai has admitted that the company will likely spend many years fighting the cases in court.

In a lengthy statement, the Alphabet Workers Union said it was “critically important that workers are included and that our views and interests are taken into account in the decision-making process on antitrust remedies.”

“This has not happened yet,” the union added.

Google has vowed to appeal the judge's decision and rejected the DOJ's proposed remedies – saying it was a “radical” framework that would “go well beyond the specific legal issues in this case.”