Google has decided to pay $50 million to settle a lawsuit that, interestingly, they deny involves systemic racial bias against their Black employees.
A preliminary settlement has been submitted for approval in Federal Court in Oakland, California, covering more than 4,000 Google workers located in California and New York.
The individuals involved in this class action claim that Google fosters a “racially biased corporate culture,” where management tends to assign Black employees to lower-level positions, lower their pay, rate their performance poorly, and limit their opportunities for advancement.
The complaint notes that in 2021, Black workers comprised just 4.4% of Google’s total workforce and 3% of its leadership roles.
A plaintiff, April Carly, stated that she was originally hired to increase outreach to Black colleges. However, she alleges that Google denied her a promotion, labeled her as an “angry” Black woman, and ultimately terminated her when she meant to present a report on racial bias.
Moreover, it is alleged that a manager defamed another Black employee by questioning his “Google-ness,” which, it turns out, has a rather unfortunate connotation.
Meanwhile, Google—a subsidiary of Alphabet headquartered in Mountain View, California—has consistently denied any wrongdoing, asserting that they are fully compliant with all relevant laws. There were no further comments available as of Friday.
The lawsuit was initiated in March 2022, following an investigation by the California Civil Rights Office into the treatment of Black female employees at Google.
As for the settlement fund, attorneys representing the plaintiffs may receive up to $12.5 million.
On a related note, lawyers recently dropped claims filed on behalf of a job applicant, discussing the evidence they collected and acknowledging Google’s “rational argument.”
The case falls under the jurisdiction of the Northern District of California, specifically titled Curley et al v Google LLC, No. 22-01735.
