Don't Be Evil: Google workers stage walkout over handling of sexual harassment

[swilow]

Google workers stage walkout over company's handling of sexual harassment

Thousands of Google employees across the world have walked off the job in protest at the internet giant's lenient treatment of executives accused of sexual misconduct.

• Key points:
• The protest is unfolding a week after a New York Times story detailed allegations of sexual misconduct by Andy Rubin
• Google boss Sundar Pichai has apologised for the company's "past actions"
• Google has fired 48 employees, including 13 senior managers, for sexual harassment in recent years
• Employees were seen staging walkouts at offices including New York, San Francisco, Tokyo, Singapore, Toronto, London, Zurich and Dublin.

The Google protest, billed "Walkout For Real Change", is unfolding a week after a New York Times (NYT) story detailed allegations of sexual misconduct against the creator of its Android software, Andy Rubin.

The report said Mr Rubin received a $US90 million severance package in 2014, even though Google concluded that sexual misconduct allegations against him were credible.

Mr Rubin derided the NYT story article as inaccurate and denied the allegations in a tweet.

About 1,000 Google workers in San Francisco swarmed into a plaza in front of the city's historic Ferry Building, repeatedly chanting: "Women's rights are workers' rights!"

In New York City, women and men filed out of Google's office and silently walked around the block for about 10 minutes. A few held sheets of paper with messages including "Respect for women".

"This is Google. We solve the toughest problems here," said Thomas Kneeland, a software engineer who said he has been at Google for three years.

"We all know that the status quo is unacceptable, and if there is any company who can solve this, I think it is Google."

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[cduggles]

This protest had major effects.

Google Overhauls Sexual Misconduct Policy After Employee Walkout

Google said on Thursday that it would end its practice of forced arbitration for claims of sexual harassment or assault after more than 20,000 employees staged a walkout last week to protest how the internet company handles cases of sexual misconduct.

Workers at Google had called for an end to arbitration, among other changes, as part of the walkout. The protest was prompted by a New York Times article last month that revealed the company had given a senior executive, Andy Rubin, a $90 million exit package even after it found he had been credibly accused of sexual harassment.

Facebook to Drop Forced Arbitration in Harassment Cases

Facebook said on Friday that it would no longer force employees to settle sexual harassment claims in private arbitration, making it the latest technology company to do away with a practice that critics say has stacked the deck against victims of harassment.

Facebook acted one day after Google announced similar plans. Last week, 20,000 Google employees staged a walkout from the company’s offices around the world to demand that it change the way it handled sexual harassment incidents. Microsoft changed its arbitration policy about a year ago, as did the ride-hailing company Uber six months ago.

The technology industry, known for its groundbreaking products as well as its trendsetting office culture, has gone to considerable lengths in recent years to keep work-force disputes out of the court system. Forcing employee complaints into arbitration has become as common as free lunches and shuttle buses to the office.

In arbitration, employment experts say, the playing field shifts toward businesses. Cases are decided by arbitrators instead of judges, and the more cases that companies take to arbitration, the better they fare, according to a 2011 analysis by Alexander J. S. Colvin, a professor at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations...(continued)