A female Google Cloud executive, Ulku Rowe, alleged that the company paid less experienced male counterparts more.
A jury found Google guilty of sexual discrimination and awarded $1.1 million to Ulku Rowe, a female executive at Google Cloud who filed the complaint. Rowe’s lawsuit claimed that the company paid less-experienced male colleagues more and denied her promotions in retaliation for her internal and subsequent court complaints.
Google Must Pay an Executive $1 Million After Losing a Gender Bias Lawsuit
According to Bloomberg Law, the jury ruled that Google is responsible for both punitive damages and compensating Rowe for pain and suffering. Prior to the trial, Rowe expressed that her time at Google was marred by what she believed to be unfair treatment and compensation based on her gender. She alleged that after being passed over for a vice president promotion, which was given to an unqualified man who hadn’t applied, and after filing her lawsuit, the company once again denied her a similar promotion.
Unanimous Verdict Sends a Clear Message Against Workplace Discrimination and Retaliation
Attorney Cara Green from Outten & Golden stated that the unanimous verdict not only confirms Ms. Rowe’s claims of mistreatment by Google but also conveys a strong message that workplace discrimination and retaliation won’t be accepted.
Green attributed the success to the actions of thousands of Google employees who organized a walkout in 2018 and demanded reforms. Over 20,000 Google employees and contractors participated in the walkout protest that year, triggered by a New York Times investigation revealing that the company had granted $90 million to the Android co-founder amid sexual assault allegations as he left the company.
