Former employees file suit against Google for gender bias and pay gap

Three women who used to work for Google have filed a class action lawsuit against the company, claiming that it discriminates against women in both pay and promotion opportunities.

The three plaintiffs in the case alleged that Google not only paid women less than men for work of equal merit, but also put women in jobs where they were less likely to move up the ranks. If true, this would violate the law in California, where the suit was filed.

Meanwhile, Google has its hands full with an investigation from the Department of Labor (DOL) on this same issue. The DOL found discrepancies during a random audit in 2015, and began looking into the issue. The dispute continues today.

One of the plaintiffs, Kelly Ellis, said on Twitter:

My hopes for the Google suit: to force not only Google, but other companies to change their practices and compensate EVERYONE fairly.

— Kelly Ellis (@justkelly_ok) September 14, 2017

An attorney for the plaintiffs, James Finberg, told USA Today that he’d heard from 90 former Google employees whose stories tallied with the claims made in the lawsuit. “The stories of the women were consistent with what the Labor Department found, that women are paid less in every category.”

Update 6pm CST: Google spokesperson Gina Scigliano told TNW in a statement on the lawsuit:

In relation to this particular lawsuit, we’ll review it in detail, but we disagree with the central allegations. Job levels and promotions are determined through rigorous hiring and promotion committees, and must pass multiple levels of review, including checks to make sure there is no gender bias in these decisions.  And we have extensive systems in place to ensure that we pay fairly.