The last couple of weeks haven't been great ones for Google. A New York Times report in late October claimed that Google had paid Andy Rubin $90 million as an "exit package" following reports of sexual harassment from 2013. This was followed by a company-wide walkout earlier in the month, and following all of that, CEO Sundar Pichai is finally responding.
Pichai sent out an email to all Google employees this morning, and in the sake of trying to be more transparent with the public on these matters, shared it in the form of a blog post for everyone to see.
In the email, Pichai says that he takes the role of CEO seriously and that, going forward, Google will "provide more transparency on how we handle concerns. We'll give better support and care to the people who raise them. And we will double down on our commitment to be a representative, equitable, and respectful workplace."
As part of this effort, Google's implementing a new action plan to handle future assault/harassment issues. Some of the highlights include:
- Optional arbitration for claims on sexual harassment and sexual assault.
- "More granularity around sexual harassment investigations and outcomes."
- Updates and expansion of Google's mandatory sexual harassment training.
You can read the email in its entirety here. This is how Pichai closed it out:
Thank you all for the feedback you've shared with us. This is an area where we need to continually make progress and are committed to doing so. We often hear from Googlers that the best part of working here is other Googlers. Even in difficult times, we are encouraged by the commitment of our colleagues to create a better workplace. That's come through very strongly over the past few weeks.
Do you think Google's doing enough in light of what's happened? Does more work need to be done?
Google buried 'credible' sexual misconduct claims against Andy Rubin
