Google’s Irish staff join in protest over harassment
GOOGLE employees in Dublin joined their colleagues from around the world in staging an hour-long walkout from work yesterday.
The protest was a mark of solidarity with victims of sexual harassment in the workplace after it was revealed that a Google executive who allegedly coerced a colleague into sex was given a $90million exit package.
The Dublin walkout organised by Kate, a trainer at Google who would not give her surname, saw over 200 employees leave work at 11am.
Similar protests took place at more than 50 Google offices around the world. In London, staffers opted to occupy a conference room because of the bad weather – with some taking to the stage to share stories of harassment and bullying.
In San Francisco, workers gathered in a square near the company’s headquarters chanting: ‘No justice,
200 workers in hour-long walkout
no peace,’ and, ‘We are fed up’.
Cathay Bi, 32, a product manager, led the rally and spoke of a culture of sexual harassment which was ‘clearly pervasive’ at the company.
It came after an article published by The New York Times last week revealed that Andy Rubin, the creator of Android software, was given a $90million (€79million) exit package in 2014.
Mr Rubin was accused of sexual misconduct by an employee with whom he had an extramarital relationship. She said he had coerced her into performing a sex act in a hotel room in 2013 and, after an investigation, Google admitted it was credible.
Mr Rubin was asked to leave and he was granted $2million a month for the next four years, according to the New York Times article.
One Google employee who took part in the protest yesterday but asked not to be named said: ‘We do not want to hear about this through the New York Times.
‘The protest is very important. The general atmosphere amongst most companies is that the most important thing is stock price and company performance and, the fact of the matter is, a lot of decisions were made with that in mind.
‘We are out here today to lend a voice of support to anyone who was the victim of bad behaviour amongst higher-ranking employees and to say that that is wrong.
‘We want there to be an actual concrete result and transparency when it comes to these types of things.’
Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief executive, was supportive of employees who chose to walk out yesterday. He said: ‘Yesterday we let Googlers know that we are aware of the activities planned and that employees will have the support they need if they wish to participate.’
During a short speech to protesters, Dublin organiser Kate thanked everyone for stepping out of the office. She said: ‘I decided to coordinate this Dublin gathering as one of the many Google sites that are walking out today in solidarity with anybody who has experienced any form of sexual harassment or misconduct in our workplace.
‘While I have not personally experienced any form of sexual harassment or misconduct at Google, I wish to create a space for all of us here to gather together and show our support for doing whatever it takes to eliminate such awful behaviour.’
Kate told the Irish Daily Mail: ‘I think it is fantastic there has been such great support for this from all the offices around the world.
‘I think it is good to see people take the lead. It is a bit of a grassroots movement, really.
‘It has been people like myself organising these things, but I have only received positive support.’ Philip Nolan – Page 14
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