It wasn't an open honest discussion.
He wrote some memo and it was pass around the Google until some people found out and got offended.
If he wanted an honest discussion he shouldn't be passing notes around like it's highschool. The memo apparently ended up being pass by more and more people. That's not how you approach this or many topics that are sensitive. I think his lack of common sense and clarity screwed him over really.
This is my understanding base on this article:
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/kzbm4a/employees-...
Gizmodo have the full letter:
https://gizmodo.com/exclusive-heres-the-full-10-page-anti-di...
This is before we even approach this sensitive topic, regardless how anybody feel about it, he have already messed it up from the get go.