By Lucy Caulkett-
Google employees around the globe have staged a walk out to protest the tech giant’s handling of sexual harassment.
The walk out was sparked by a damaging bombshell New York Times report last week revealing Google secretly offered several high-profile executives lucrative exit packages after they were accused of sexual misconduct.
The radical action has become a worldwide event in what is an embarrassment to google.Google CEO Sundar Pichai acknowledged the discontent in an email to employees Tuesday, pledging the company would take a “much harder line on inappropriate behavior.”
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That “inappropriate behavior” is a reference to Android creator Andy Rubin, who the Times revealed was quietly given a $90 million golden parachute after the company discovered he allegedly coerced a woman into performing oral sex at a hotel in 2013.
“Over the past two years, we have terminated 48 people, including 13 senior managers and above for sexual harassment,” Pichai noted in his email. “None of these people received an exit package. And to clarify: in that time, we have also not provided any exit packages to executives who departed voluntarily in the course of a sexual harassment investigation.”
Event organizers published a list of five demands for protesters to coalesce around, including pay equity, greater transparency at several levels in Google and an end to forced arbitration agreements. Protesters at the walkout in New York City hoisted signs calling out sexual misconduct and gender inequity in tech, with at least a couple of pointed references to Rubin’s payout.
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“Happy to quit for $90 million,” read one woman’s sign. “No sexual harassment required!” The news is a disgrace to google who must rise up and deal with the growing problem of sexual harassment that is damaging the otherwise good reputation of google.
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