Historic strike of engineers against abuse of power and harassment

Hundreds of Google employees and subcontractors of its parent company, Alphabet, in Asia, have staged a brief strike outside the company's offices. Other collaborators should do the same around the world.

Engineers and digital talent working in the creative firm of the infamous Internet search engine have demonstrated against sexism, racism and abuse of power by their leaders.

In addition, Alphabet confirmed Wednesday that a leader accused of sexual harassment had been fired without compensation because of the increased tension on the treatment of these problems in the company.

The news that Rich DeVaul, one of the directors of Lab X's research unit – Google, was announced after employees allegedly attempted to stage a protest Thursday against the indulgent behavior of the company. Sexual misconduct at the workplace.

Alphabet declined to give details about DeVaul's departure, Reuters said. But Google CEO Sundar Pichai sent a message to employees Tuesday night.

Pichai says she has heard many employees talk about the issue of inappropriate behavior at work and is "deeply sorry for the past actions and the pain they have caused to the workers".

"As executive director, it has been personally important to me to adopt a much harsher attitude with regard to inappropriate behavior," Pichai said in his message, reaffirming that Google has laid off 48 employees in the last two years, including 13 senior executives, as a result of allegations of sexual harassment.

Pichai has met with Google employees to discuss the issue since the New York Times reported last week that a senior Google employee, Android creator, Andy Rubin, had received severance pay $ 90 million. after complaints of misconduct. The newspaper also announced that Google had covered other allegations of sexual harassment.

Sam Singer, Rubin's spokesperson, dismissed the charges against him in a statement to AFP, saying Rubin had left Google of his own free will to launch Playground, a venture capital company and incubator. technology.

Consulted by AFP and other media about this reaction, Google revealed an email sent by Pichai to employees stating that no one who resigned or had been fired due to sexual harassment concerns in the past two years had received "exit compensation" ".

"We take very seriously ensuring that we provide a safe and inclusive workplace," Pichai said in the e-mail shared last week. "We want to make sure that we review all complaints about sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior, investigate and take action."

The concerns voiced by Alphabet women have added to the growing chorus of voices denouncing the existence of a sexist culture in a male-dominated Silicon Valley.

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