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Google employees stage a walkout on Nov. 1, 2018, in New York, over the company’s handling of sexual harassment accusations against some of its executives. The company settled shareholder lawsuits on Friday.
Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images
Google parent Alphabet Inc. on Friday settled shareholder lawsuits stemming from the search giant’s handling of sexual-misconduct charges against former top executives, promising changes in how its board handles future harassment cases and vowing to spend $310 million during the next decade on diversity programs.
The Silicon Valley tech giant also agreed to limit confidentiality restrictions when settling harassment claims, and waive mandatory arbitration of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation claims across all Alphabet companies.
The lawsuit followed a New York Times article that detailed how Google GOOGL, +0.44% GOOG, +0.38% protected accused executives and facilitated their departures from the company without disclosing the allegations. One executive who left was Android creator Andy Rubin, who reportedly received a $90 million payout. Rubin allegedly coerced a Google employee to perform sex acts, and was also accused of sex trafficking, charges he has denied. The article sparked other reporting and eventually led to a protest and walkout by thousands of Google employees around the world.
Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, as well as former CEO and Chairman Eric Schmidt and the company’s board members, were named as defendants “for their active and direct participation in a multi-year scheme to cover up sexual harassment and discrimination at Alphabet,” according to the lawsuit filed in January 2019.
“This settlement is historic because it’s so broad,” Ann Ravel, one of the lead attorneys for the plaintiffs, told MarketWatch on Friday. “It’s the most forward-thinking, comprehensive agreement of this kind in cases such as this one.”
Ravel said the settlement “can change the entire culture at Google both in hiring and reaching out to minority communities.”
Eileen Naughton, vice president of people operations at Google, also announced in a blog post Friday that the company is establishing a new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisory Council to advise and oversee the changes.
