Staff say it’s time to put an end to ‘the sexual harassment, discrimination, and systemic racism’.
Angry employees are demanding key changes be made to put an end to ‘the sexual harassment, discrimination, and systemic racism’ that allegedly pervades working at Google.
On Thursday, employees staged a worldwide walkout in cities including Singapore, Zurich, London, Tokyo, Berlin and New York, following the publication of a New York Times article last week. During the protests, employees spoke out about experiences of sexual harassment within the company.
The NYT article, titled ‘How Google Protected Andy Rubin, the “Father of Android”’, revealed that the company has been paying out millions of dollars in exit packages to male executives accused of sexual harassment. One of those males was Andy Rubin, the creator of the Android phone, who allegedly coerced a female subordinate into performing oral sex on him.
Despite an investigation finding the allegation to be credible, Google reportedly paid Rubin a $90 million exit package, which he invested in his new company. Rubin, however, claims the allegations are false. Among the sea of signs at the Silicon Valley protest on Thursday, one read: ‘Happy to quit for $90 million. No sexual harassment required.’
Last week, Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai told his staff in an email, ‘I understand the anger and disappointment that many of you feel. I feel it as well, and I am fully committed to making progress on an issue that has persisted for far too long in our society… and, yes, here at Google, too.’
It’s yet to be seen whether Pichai will be a man of his word. Employees are calling for several major changes to company policies:
- An end to forced arbitration in cases of harassment and discrimination.
- A commitment to end pay and opportunity inequality.
- A publicly disclosed sexual harassment transparency report.
- A clear, uniform, globally inclusive process for reporting sexual misconduct safely and anonymously.
- Elevate the Chief Diversity Officer to answer directly to the CEO, and make recommendations directly to the board of directors.