Google ‘paid £70m to misconduct claim exec’
GOOGLE handed a senior executive a £70 million pay-off after he was accused of sexual harassment by an employee, it has been claimed.
Andy Rubin, who invented the Android smartphone software, received four years of payments after leaving the internet giant in 2014.
He allegedly coerced an employee into performing a sex act on him in a hotel room in 2013, The New York Times reported. When a sexual misconduct claim was made against Rubin, according to the paper, Google opened an investigation and asked him to resign.
However, it paid him millions of dollars each month, totalling $90million (£70 million) over four years. It did not reveal the allegation when he left, instead praising him for his work.
During the investigation, Google’s board of directors awarded Rubin $150million (£120million) in shares. It was unclear whether the board were aware of the allegations at this time.
A spokesman for Rubin told The New York Times that any relationship he had at Google had been consensual and that he had left of his own accord.
Google said it took a “hard line on inappropriate conduct by people in positions of authority”.
Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief executive, sent an email to employees following the article, which he admitted was “difficult to read”. He said 48 people had been dismissed for sexual harassment including 13 who were senior managers and that none of them had received an exit package.