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Google said Thursday that it would no longer prevent employees from suing the company for discrimination, unfair dismissal or bundling in class actions.
This change will end Google's policy of requiring employees to settle such disputes in arbitration. The hearings are usually closed and the arbitrators are paid by the company. Critics say that arbitration allows sexual harassers to take multiple victims because of secrecy.
In November, Google gave up mandatory arbitration for sexual harassment and assault claims. The decision made on Thursday is an important extension of this policy. Among other things, this will allow Google's current employees to move past claims from arbitration to court. Nevertheless, recent policy improvements at Google and other technology companies have come too late for some employees.
Labor lawyers say that complaints of sexual harassment and discrimination are often filed together. In addition, requiring employees to file harassment complaints as individuals made it less likely that workers would pursue their cases in court. Historically, class actions have been a vehicle for change, such as reducing sexual harassment on Wall Street.
The changes to Google's policy follow a sustained protest by employees. The November change to the harassment complaints came a week after 20,000 Google employees walked out of their office to protest Google's incorrect treatment of sexual harassment. Thursday's change comes a few days before a group of Google employees plan to accompany lawmakers when they introduce bills in the House and Senate to end arbitration. forced for all workers.
Most of the changes will not apply to the army of temporary employees, subcontractors and Google suppliers. In July, Bloomberg announced that more than half of Google's employees were agency workers, subcontractors and suppliers.
The lawmakers, moved in part by Google's protests, voiced concerns about mandatory arbitration when Sundar Pichai testified before Congress in December. Thursday, the US representative Pramila Jayapal (Washington) wrote on Twitter: "Today, justice has won".
The #MeToo movement has submitted compulsory arbitration to public control, as one of the legal agreements, such as non-disparagement clauses, which hurts victims of sexual harassment while protecting predators . The arrival of Google employees followed a New York Times Ruby's Android founder, Andy Rubin, received a $ 90 million exit package, even after Google investigators uncovered credible allegations of sexual harassment against him.
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