While this is a common quip that I find pretty funny, it's not really true. What actually happened was that while updating their code of conduct[0], Google changed it to only say "don't be evil" in one place instead of multiple[1].

Google was also sued by former employees who claim they were fired because they tried to prevent Google from doing evil[2], in accordance with the code of conduct they agreed to. Sadly that lawsuit ended with a secret settlement, so we'll never know what a jury thinks. Since "don't be evil" is still in there I suppose it could come up again.

[0]: https://abc.xyz/investor/board-and-governance/google-code-of...

[1]: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-dont-be-evil/2540...

[2]: https://www.npr.org/2021/11/29/1059821677/google-dont-be-evi...