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Google to Spend $3.8 Million to Settle Accusations of Biases

Reuters/Inquirer.net Los Angeles / 08:44 AM February 02, 2021

Alphabet Inc’s Google will spend $3.8 million, including $2.6 million in back pay, to settle allegations that it underpaid women and unfairly passed over women and Asians for job openings, the U.S. Department of Labor said on Monday.

Several years ago, the allegations stemmed from a routine compliance audit required by Google’s status as a supplier of technology to the federal government.

Google said it was pleased to have resolved the matter.

Alphabet Inc’s Google’s brand logo is seen outside the company’s office in Beijing, China, on August 8, 2018. The picture was taken with a fisheye lens. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs had found “preliminary indicators” that Google from 2014 to 2017 underpaid 2,783 women in its software engineering group in Mountain View, California, and the Seattle area.

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Investigators also found hiring rate differences that disadvantaged women and Asian candidates during the year ended Aug. 31, 2017, for software engineering roles in San Francisco, Sunnyvale, California, and Kirkland, Washington.

Google Settlement

The settlement includes $2.6 million in back pay to 5,500 employees and job candidates and calls on Google to review hiring and salary practices.

According to the settlement, Google will also set aside $1.25 million for pay adjustments for engineers in Mountain View, Kirkland, Seattle, and New York over the next five years. Any unused funds will be spent on diversity efforts at Google.

The company already conducts annual pay audits, but like other big tech companies, it remains under public scrutiny for a workforce that does not reflect the country’s makeup in terms of race and gender.

The company said in a statement, “We believe everyone should be paid based upon the work they do, not who they are, and invest heavily to make our hiring and compensation processes fair and unbiased.”

(Reporting by Paresh Dave in Oakland, Calif.; Editing by Leslie Adler and Matthew Lewis)