He wrote the memo well before he filed the NLRB claim:
“The document is dated July, but it was leaked to journalists on Sunday (Aug 6) after more Googlers read the document and expressed their disgust on Twitter. CEO Sundar Pichai described Damore’s views as “offensive” and “not OK.”
During the interview, he said he wrote the memo to fill his time during a 12-hour work flight to China.”
Damore filed with the NLRB late Monday, August 7th.
Well, if he filed only after the fact he won’t be able to claim retaliation for the filing. Wired says:
“However, Damore says that before he was fired, he filed a complaint, formally known as a charge, with the National Labor Relations Board, which administers some aspects of federal labor law.”
and
“Damore says he also plans to invoke a California law that bars employers from retaliating against workers who complain about illegal working conditions.”
https://www.wired.com/story/google-manifesto-author-just-might-have-a-legal-case/
We’ll see which is right, or if they both are if there can be more than one complaint.