Google is now facing a gender-pay lawsuit which was given class-action status by a San Francisco state judge. That means, the four main petitioners now represent over 10,800 women employees who believe that Google pays women less than men. The petitioners are seeking damages of over $600 million. These women accuse the tech company of violating the Equal Pay Act of California.
The case may go to trial in 2022 says the lawyer representing these women. The allegations are that the Company paid the women in its workforce about $16,794 less annually, than men at the same level or doing similar work.
Analyses by experts seem to reveal that women received lesser base salary, smaller bonuses and lesser stock as compared to men at the same level, doing the same work and at the same location.
In 2017, a suit was filed accusing Google of violating the state’s Unfair Competition Law, with its policy of asking candidates about their previous salaries, which led to them being paid lesser and women being assigned roles at lower seniority levels. While the Company sought that the case be dismissed in 2018, the judge did not grant the request.
It was only in February that Google had consented to pay over two million dollars to settle allegations by the US Labour Department that the Company underpaid thousands of women software professionals and discriminated against women and Asian candidates.
Meanwhile, Google maintains that for the past eight years it has been analysing the compensation structure to ensure that the salaries and bonuses being given are fair. It claims that wherever any disparity is spotted, adjustments are made accordingly well before the new or revised structure is implemented. In fact, the Company reveals that more than 2,500 employees were given higher salaries across all categories.
