INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Google employees are fed up with the search giant lack of transparency when it comes to handling sexual harassment and misconduct
allegations.
This morning, thousands of Googlers from San Francisco to Dublin are walking out in hopes of bringing real change to the
The protest follows a New York Times reportlast week that revealed Google had provided Android co-creator Andy Rubin a $90 million payout
package despite credible allegations of sexual misconduct made against him.
The protestors have five key asks:
An end to forced
arbitrationin cases of harassment and discrimination.
A commitment to end pay and opportunity inequity.
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 chief executive officer and make recommendationsdirectly to the board of directors
And appoint an employee representative to the board.
Plans of the walkoutemerged earlier this week, just days after the bombshell NYT report
According to BuzzFeed, some 200 Googlers began staging the protest; the group quickly grew to thousands, including non-U.S
Google CEO Sundar Pichai had reportedly condoned the protest in an internal e-mail to employees Tuesday.
&Earlier this week, we let Googlers
know that we are aware of the activities planned for today and that employees will have the support they need if they wish to participate,&
Pichai said in a statement provided to TechCrunch today
&Employees have raised constructive ideas for how we can improve our policies and our processes going forward
We are taking in all their feedback so we can turn these ideas into action.&
Pichai also responded to the NYT report with a letter co-signed
by vice president of people operationsEileen Naughton, admittingthat 48 people had been terminated at the company for sexual harassment in
the past two years alone, including 13 senior employees.
We&ll be at the San Francisco protest, which begins at 11:10 a.m
Here a look at protestors around the globe this morning.
The #googlewalkout in Zurich has impressive numbers! @googlewalkout
pic.twitter.com/bgLHDLYfez
— Ted (@TedOnPrivacy) November 1, 2018
Google employees in Montreal have gathered up the street from their
office on the campus of McGill University & #GoogleWalkout @GoogleWalkout & No one willing to speak on the record, but one explaining that
pic.twitter.com/lB8siMeWMj
— Elias Makos
(@eliasmakos) November 1, 2018
#GoogleWalkout Cambridge — seems like the whole office is
Can't get a photo that accurately expresses the magnitude
pic.twitter.com/94rIbQJ9Ls
— mc #YesOn3 millen (@mcmillen) November 1, 2018
More signs from Google NYC pre-walkout sign making!
#GoogleWalkout pic.twitter.com/4hjTJaHtqS
— Google Walkout For Real Change (@GoogleWalkout) November 1, 2018
Google NYC #GoogleWalkout
pic.twitter.com/5BJ0u5EZCJ
— Google Walkout For Real Change (@GoogleWalkout) November 1, 2018
#GoogleWalkout Dublin
pic.twitter.com/joL1uHGavJ
— Ciara O'Brien (@ciaraobrien) November 1, 2018
The first of many coordinated #GoogleWalkout protests has
begun & this is at the firm office in Singapore
(Pic via https://t.co/h44RZYGGHV ) pic.twitter.com/QeFgmPbHnN
— Dave Lee (@DaveLeeBBC) November 1, 2018
Hello from Google in London
A groups just came out for the #googlewalkout pic.twitter.com/nTeZ9rSAKC
— Hadas Gold (@Hadas_Gold) November 1, 2018
Google terminated
48 employees for sexual harassment in the last two years
