In response to a New York Times story that was published just recently, CEO of Google, Sundar Pichai announced via email on Thursday, that the company had fired 48 employees for sexual harassment over the past two years.
Pichai added that within these 48 people, “13 people who were senior managers and above have been terminated for sexual harassment. None of these individuals received an exit package.”
The New York Times also reported that the company had fired Andy Rubin, the executive in charge of its Android software for sexual misconduct in 2014, who is still being paid a $90 million package.
Google’s vice president of people operations – Eileen Naughton also signed the email written by Pichai, mentioned that company employees could use internal tools to report cases of inappropriate behavior anonymously.
Back in 2015 itself, newer tools like ‘Respect@’ and annual Internal Investigations Report were launched by Google for its employees in order to provide more transparency about these kinds of investigations. They provided confidential channels to be able to report any inappropriate behavior that employees experience or see.
The email further mentioned that Google supports and respects those who have spoken out, wherein if the victims wished, the reports can also be made anonymously, keeping in mind that reporting sensitive events like these could be traumatic.
Google has now updated its policy asking all vice-presidents and senior vice-presidents to disclose any relationship with a co-worker, irrespective of the presence of a conflict or of a reporting line.
The ending of the email reads as follows, “We are committed to ensuring that Google is a workplace where you can feel safe to do your best work, and where there are serious consequences for anyone who behaves inappropriately.”
