Google workers here join protest
Employees worldwide oppose firm’s handling of sexual misconduct
At least 150 Google employees and independent contractors walked out of the engineering office in Bakery Square just after 11 a.m. Thursday to protest the tech giant’s handling of sexual misconduct allegations.
The walkout was one of at least two dozen staged across the global locations of Mountain View, Calif.-based Google — from Tokyo to Singapore to London.
Billed as “Walkout For Real Change,” the Google protest comes one week after a New York Times story revealed detailed allegations of sexual misconduct against Andy Rubin, the creator of Google-owned Android software.
Employees in Pittsburgh filtering out of the building declined to comment on the protest, referring reporters to a general press email set up by walkout organizers.
“Time’s up at Google,” read a news release from the automated response email.
“As Google workers, we were disgusted by the details of the recent New York Times article, which provided the latest example of a culture of complicity, dismissiveness, and support for perpetrators in the face of sexual harassment, misconduct and abuse of power.”
At the engineering office in Larimer, employees walked out for about 15 minutes, circling the Bakery Square complex and snaking through the Bakery Living condominium complex. Employees held up signs that read, “If you think it could be sexual harassment, it probably is,” “Yes, at Google” and “Believe women.”
The protests are the latest backlash against the exploitation of women in the tech, entertainment and political landscapes.
The New York Times report said Mr. Rubin received a $90 million severance package in 2014 even though Google had concluded that the sexual misconduct allegations against him were credible. Mr. Rubin derided the Times article as inaccurate and denied the allegations in a tweet.
The same story also disclosed allegations of sexual misconduct of other executives, including Richard DeVaul, a director at the same Google-affiliated lab that created farflung projects such as self-driving cars and internet-beaming
“This is part of a growing movement, not just in tech, but across the country, including teachers, fast-food workers and others who are using their strength in numbers to make real change.” — Walkout organizers at Pittsburgh Google
balloons. Mr. DeVaul had remained at the “X’’ lab after allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced about him a few years ago, but he resigned Tuesday without severance, Google confirmed Wednesday.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai apologized for the company’s “past actions” in an email sent
to employees Tuesday. “I understand the anger and disappointment that many of you feel,” Mr. Pichai wrote. “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.”
The email didn’t mention the reported incidents involving Mr. Rubin, Mr. DeVaul or anyone else at Google, but Mr. Pichai didn’t dispute anything in the Times story.
In an email last week, Mr. Pichai and Eileen Naughton, Google’s executive in charge of personnel issues, sought to reassure workers that the company had cracked down on sexual misconduct since Mr. Rubin’s departure four years ago.
Among other things, Mr. Pichai and Ms. Naughton disclosed that Google had fired 48 employees, including 13 senior managers, for “sexual harassment” in recent years without giving any of them severance packages.
Thursday’s walkout could signal that a significant number of the 94,000 employees working for Google and its corporate parent Alphabet Inc. remained unconvinced that the company is doing enough to adhere to Alphabet’s own edict urging all employees to “do the right thing.”
Employees are asking for specific changes from Google at the corporate level.
They seek an end to forced arbitration in cases of harassment and discrimination for all current and future employees, noting that they’d also like the right to bring a supporter with them to meet with human resources, especially when filing harassment claims, per the walkout news release.
Other requests include an end to pay inequity, asking for transparent data on the compensation gap; a publicly disclosed sexual harassment transparency report; a uniform and globally inclusive process for reporting sexual misconduct safely and anonymously; and elevation of chief diversity officer, Danielle Brown, to report directly to Mr. Pichai and make recommendations directly to the board of directors.
“This is part of a growing movement, not just in tech, but across the country, including teachers, fast-food workers and others who are using their strength in numbers to make real change,” the release said.
“We know that it can be more difficult for other workers to stand up which is why we stand in solidarity with the temporary and contract workers here at Google, but we encourage everyone who feels this injustice to take collective action.”