Female employees that sued Google for paying them less than men in equivalent positions have won $118 million in settlement with the tech giant.
15,500 female employees who have worked for the company in California since September 2013 had alleged that Google assigned lower positions than men with similar experiences because they had previously earned smaller salaries.
Without admission of wrongdoing, Google said that “while we strongly believe in the equity of our policies and practices, after nearly five years of litigation, both sides agreed that resolution of the matter, without any admission or findings, was in the best interest of everyone, and we’re very pleased to reach this agreement.”
“Google denies all of the allegations in the lawsuit and maintains that it has fully complied with all applicable laws, rules and regulations at all times,” it said in a statement to the news agency AFP.
According to the law firms Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP and Altshuler Berzon LLP, Google has also agreed for a third party to analyze its hiring and compensation practices as part of the settlement.
The two law firms for the plaintiffs added that a judge must still approve the agreement for it to be finalised.
This is not the first time Google has faced allegations of discrimination as the big tech company had paid $3.8 million to the US Department of Labor over accusations it had discriminated against women and Asians in 2021.
(With inputs from agencies)
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