Another executive out amid sex harassment tension at Google

SAN FRANCISCO: Google parent Alphabet on Wednesday confirmed that an executive accused of sexual harassment left the company without an exit package as tension over its handling of such matters heightened.

Word that Rich DeVaul, a director at X lab devoted to ‘ moonshots’ such as internet service from balloons, was out came with reports that women employees were organising a walkout Thursday to protest lenient handling of sexual misconduct in the workplace.

Alphabet declined to give details about DeVaul’s departure from the company on Tuesday.

A Google Walkout For Real Change account that sprang to life on Twitter late Wednesday said that employees and contractors would leave their workplaces late Thursday morning in respective time zones.

Demands posted in the tweet included improved processes for reporting sexual misconduct and resolving cases of harassment, as well as a commitment by Google to pay and opportunity equity.

Google chief executive Sundar Pichai sent a message to employees late Tuesday, a copy of which was posted online by technology news website Ars Technica.

Pichai said he has heard from many employees on the subject of inappropriate behavior at work and was “deeply sorry for the past actions and the pain they have caused employees.”

“As CEO, it’s been personally important to me that we take a much harder line on inappropriate behavior,” Pichai said in the message.

He said again that Google had fired 48 employees in the past two years — including 13 senior executives — as a result of sexual harassment allegations. — AFP