Google agreed to pay $135M to two executives facing misconduct allegations: Report
Google agreed to pay $135 million in severance to two executives who left the tech giant after they faced allegations of sexual assault and hid the reason from their department, according to a complaint in a lawsuit obtained by the Wall Street Journal on Monday.
The payments went to executives Andy Rubin and Amit Singhal, who were separately accused of sexual misconduct against colleagues. Google disclosed the payments as part of proceedings in a civil lawsuit filed by shareholders in California Superior Court.
“There are serious consequences for anyone who behaves inappropriately at Google,” a Google spokeswoman said in a statement to the Journal. “In recent years, we’ve made many changes to our workplace and taken an increasingly hard line on inappropriate conduct by people in positions of authority.”
Rubin, who developed Google’s Android software, received a $90 million severance package in 2014 after the company found evidence he engaged in sexual harassment of a female subordinate. The company agreed to pay Singhal roughly $45 million after he faced a groping allegation in 2016, but the package was later reduced to $15 million.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GOOGL | ALPHABET INC. | 171.49 | +2.54 | +1.50% |
Google did not immediately return a request for further comment on the situation. The ongoing lawsuit alleges that Google has repeatedly covered up instances of sexual harassment or gender discrimination.
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The tech giant overhauled its sexual misconduct policy last November after thousands of workers staged a walkout amid revelations of Rubin’s exit compensation. Google said it would end forced arbitration of sexual misconduct claims and improve reporting processes for employees who experienced harassment.