In a lawsuit, Google would have a hard time defending themselves, as the rule this employee ignored was illegal. On the other hand, most US contracts can be terminated with 2 weeks notice, in which case employees are sent home immediately (at least that’s how it’s commonly portrayed).
Could someone explain it to me why this is downvoted? I live in Europe and we have completely different employment laws but from what I noticed it is not unusual for someone to be told "you no longer work here" and have them escorted by a guard, often carrying a box with their stuff. Is this image exaggerated?
It depends, of course, on the company and the circumstances of the separation. But, the scenario you described is absolutely common and some companies handle all separations in the manner you described. Usually your manager will read from a script (approved by HR,) then the HR rep will take over and read a bunch of other boilerplate to you. Then you'll get escorted out and your accounts/door badges deactivated. You may be offered a small severance package (on the order of weeks to months) but probably only if you sign away your rights to sue the company, if you didn't already do that by signing a binding arbitration agreement when you joined. You may or may not have a non-compete agreement that remains in force for longer than any severance you received.
I don’t know what you mean by contract, but an employer can always tell an employee they can no longer access the employer’s facilities (or log in remotely) anytime, barring an extremely weird agreement giving an employee that right.
And outside of Montana, employers can stop paying employees immediately barring an agreement that the employer cannot do that. This is called at-will employment. The most common agreement that typically does not allow an employer to do this are usually called collective bargaining agreements, negotiated by unions.
