More than 60 current and former Google employees are considering suing the tech giant over allegations of sexism and pay disparities.
James Finberg, the civil rights attorney working on the possible legal action on behalf of the women, told the Guardian they believe that they have earned less than men at Google despite equal qualifications and comparable positions. Others have struggled in other ways to advance their careers at the company due to a “culture that is hostile to women”, Mr Finberg told the newspaper.
Google has been caught in a maelstrom after James Damore, a male software engineer at the tech firm, in a 10-page manifesto argued that men occupy more leadership roles than women in tech due to “biological differences”. Since then he has been fired.
Mr Finberg said he has interviewed about 30 Google staffers so far and some claim that they are paid $40,000 less than their male co-workers in the same role. Google, however, has vehemently denied its salaries are discriminatory. “They are concerned that women are channeled to levels and positions that pay less than men with similar education and experience,” Mr Finberg told the Guardian.
Of the more than 60 women who have reached out to the attorney in the past three weeks, Mr Finberg said about half still work for Google. He also said that more than a dozen of the former female staffers among the 60 claimed that discrimination played a role in their decision to leave the company.
A former senior manager who recently left Google told the Guardian she repeatedly learned of men at the same level as her earning tens of thousands of dollars more than her, and in one case, she said she had a male employee join her team with a higher salary despite the fact that she was his superior. “It’s demoralising,” said the worker, who requested anonymity
