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Google has agreed to settle a $50million racial discrimination lawsuit covering approximately 4,000 employees.
The proposed class action lawsuit accused Google of a “racially biased corporate culture,” with Black workers alleging company management systematically pushed them into less senior and lower-paid roles.
The famous technology employer said it strongly disagrees with allegations and that the agreement involvement no admission of wrongdoing.
Google accused of ‘practice of racial discrimination’ against Black staff
The settlement was filed on Thursday evening in a federal court in Oakland, California, as reported by Reuters.
In the class action suit, the plaintiffs, on behalf of roughly 4,000 Black Googlers based in New York and California, accused the employer of discrimination and denying them opportunities for career progression.
April Curley, the lead plaintiff, first filed a complaint in 2022, accusing Google of a “pattern and practice of race discrimination against its African American and Black employees.”
She alleged that she had been stereotyped as an “angry” Black woman by supervisors and said that no action was taken after filing official complaints of discriminatory management behavior with Google’s HR department in 2020.
Instead, Curley was retaliated against and ultimately fired, the 2022 complaint claimed.
More broadly, Curley alleged that the tech giant hires few Black employees, particularly at the leadership level, and pushes “those few Black employees into lower-level roles,” leading them to be underpaid.
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The ex-Googler claimed that managers at her former employer told Black workers they were not “Googly” enough, and included accusations of sex and sexual orientation discrimination.
Curley’s complaint drew particular attention to Google’s centralized leadership team, arguing it is “devoid of Black representation, holds biased and stereotypical views about the abilities and potential of Black professionals.”
Google consistently denied the accusations and emphasized that by settling, it has not admitted to any wrongdoing.
“We strongly disagree with the allegations that we treated anyone improperly and we remain committed to paying, hiring and leveling all employees consistently,” a Google spokeswoman told Reuters in an emailed statement.
Google agrees to identify ‘race-based pay disparities’
As a part of the $50million settlement, Google agreed to a series of provisions.
It promised to analyze pay over the next three years to “identify unexplained differences based on race,” before pay changes are finalized for the following year; and will investigate “any concerns raised” and take action if it is found any employee has been leveled or paid incorrectly for an unlawful reason.
Google will also “take steps to ensure pay transparency and fairness,” including listing salaries in job adverts and continuing not to ask applicants for their salary history.
According to Reuters, lawyers for the plaintiffs could demand up to $12.5million of the $50million settlement fund in fees. The settlement requires a judge’s approval.
Unlike some other cases, members of the settlement class will not have their fee calculated with a formula, Thursday’s filing said.
Instead, the employees will have to participate in a “nuanced and detailed process” to determine how much they stand to receive, taking into account a “consideration of post-Google wage loss and any alleged emotional distress.”
It is not the first major settlement Google has reached with staff over allegations of racial pay discrimination. In March, it agreed to pay $28million to settle a class action lawsuit that claimed it favored white and Asian employees by offering them higher pay and career advancement opportunities than other workers.
