Calif. Google staffers protest treatment of women
139 views · Published 6 November 2018 · 0:52 · Indexed 9 October 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(1 Nov 2018) Carrying signs with messages such as "Don't be evil," several hundred Google employees around the world briefly walked off the job Thursday in a protest against what they said is the tech company's mishandling of sexual misconduct allegations against executives. Employees staged walkouts at offices from Tokyo and Singapore to London and New York to Cambridge, Massachusetts, reflecting a #MeToo-era backlash among women against frat-house misbehavior in heavily male-dominated Silicon Valley. "Here I am trying to get young women into this industry and they are being harassed when they walk in the front door. Time is up on that.!" organizer Vicki Tardif Holland, an eight year veteran of Google, shouted, her voice hoarse, at a gathering of about 300 people in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The walkouts reflected doubts among some of the 94,000 employees at Google and its corporate parent Alphabet Inc. that the company is adhering to its own dictum in the Alphabet corporate code of conduct: "Do the right thing." Protest organizers said Google has publicly championed diversity and inclusion but hasn't done enough to put words into action. In an unsigned statement from organizers, the protesters called for an end to forced arbitration in harassment and discrimination cases, a practice that requires employees to give up their right to sue and often includes confidentiality agreements. They also want Google to end pay inequity, issue a report on sexual harassment inside the company and adopt a clearer process for reporting complaints. The Google protest unfolded a week after a New York Times story detailed allegations of sexual misconduct about the creator of Google's Android software, Andy Rubin. The report said Rubin received a $90 million severance package in 2014 after Google concluded the accusations against him were credible. Rubin denied the allegations in a tweet. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/9ae8397ccab30597bfef7ffe6c712f45
