Google will have to pay more than $1 million to a manager for alleged gender discrimination. Ulku Rowe, director of engineering at Google Cloud, accused Google of hiring her for a lower-paying position than men with less experience who were hired for similar positions, according to Bloomberg Law. Further she claimed she was turned down for a promotion in favor of a less qualified male colleague.
A New York jury ruled Friday that Google did indeed engage in gender discrimination, and now must pay the Rowes a total of $1.15 million (approximately CZK 27 million). However, according to Bloomberg Law, the jury also ruled that Rowe had not proven that Google violated New York’s Equal Pay Act. When she joined Google in 2017, Rowe had 23 years of experience. The lawsuit alleges that she was undervalued when she was hired and was offered a much lower salary than colleagues with similar experience.
The ruling comes nearly five years after roughly 20,000 Google employees staged a walkout demanding changes to the company’s approach to sexual offenses and discrimination. Rowe’s lawsuit is the first such case Google has faced since the protests, according to Bloomberg Law. Cara Greene, Rowe’s attorney, called the jury’s decision “historic.”
Google spokeswoman Courtenay Mencini said in a statement that “fairness is absolutely critical to us, and we strongly believe in the fairness of our settlement and compensation processes.” However, she addedthat he disagrees with the jury’s conclusion and that he denies that “Rowe was discriminated against because of her gender or that someone would retaliate against her for objecting to her salary.”
Source: www.engadget.com
