Google employees worldwide are staging walkouts Thursday to protest the company’s handling of sexual misconduct sparked by an Oct. 25 report by The New York Times about alleged misconduct by former Google executive Andy Rubin.
Google employees in the northeast United States, India, the United Kingdom and other locations left their desks Thursday at 11:10 a.m. local time in response to a report that described big payouts to executives accused of sexual misconduct — including an allegation of forced oral sex — with Google employees or applicants.
The Google NYC walkout has begun! There are lines to the packed stairwells — most have given up on packed elevators. #GoogleWalkout pic.twitter.com/4ywBpQxv6n
— Google Walkout For Real Change (@GoogleWalkout) November 1, 2018
“We’re walking out in support of those who’ve been harassed anywhere in the workplace, and to ensure that perpetrators are not rewarded and are not protected,” Google employee Sam Dutton told CNN in London Thursday.
A Google Walkout account retweeted photos from walkouts in New York City and Cambridge, Massachusetts, Thursday morning. (RELATED: Electric Scooters Pulled Because Their Batteries Could Catch Fire)
The Twitter account, @GoogleWalkout, sprung up with a Wednesday tweet explaining protesters’ demands, which include:
- “An end to Forced Arbitration in 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 CEO and make recommendations directly to the Board of Directors.”
Google CEO Sundar Pichai said he was aware of the walkout and that “employees will have the support they need if they wish to participate,” in a statement to CNN Wednesday.
Google employees and contractors will be leaving these flyers at their desks tomorrow. #googlewalkout pic.twitter.com/rqFbXzavZQ
— Google Walkout For Real Change (@GoogleWalkout) November 1, 2018
“Employees have raised constructive ideas for how we can improve our policies and our processes going forward,” Pichai said according to CNN. “We are taking in all their feedback so we can turn these ideas into action.”
Rubin was the focus of the piece in The Times. It detailed the $90 million package given to Rubin, the creator of Android’s mobile software, when he left the company in 2014 with public praise from Google’s top dogs.
“What Google did not make public was that an employee had accused Mr. Rubin of sexual misconduct,” The Times reported. “The woman, with whom Mr. Rubin had been having an extramarital relationship, said he coerced her into performing oral sex in a hotel room in 2013, according to two company executives with knowledge of the episode.”
Google Ads has faced backlash for censorship recently after it disapproved digital ads supporting Tennessee Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn, a U.S. Senate candidate, by the state Republican Party. Google Ads told the Tennessee Republican Party Tuesday the ads, which contained footage of protesters interrupting Blackburn’s moment of silence for victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, were disapproved for “shocking content.”
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