Google employees around the world are now going to protest sexual harassment – TechCrunch

Google employees are fed up with the research giant's lack of transparency about sexual harassment and allegations of misconduct.

This morning, thousands of Googlers from San Francisco to Dublin leave in the hope of bringing real change to the company. The protest follows a New York Times report last week that Google had provided Android co-creator Andy Rubin with a $ 90 million payment despite credible allegations of sexual misconduct against him.

The demonstrators five the key asks:

1. The end of forced arbitration in case of harassment and discrimination.
2. A commitment to end the inequality of wages and opportunities.
3. Transparency report on sexual harassment disclosed publicly.
4. A clear, consistent and globally inclusive process to report sexual misconduct safely and anonymously.
5. Raise the Diversity Officer to report directly to the Executive Director and make recommendations directly to the Board of Directors. And appoint an employee representative on the board.

Plans for the strike were unveiled earlier this week, just days after the release of the NYT bomber report. According to BuzzFeed, some 200 Googlers have started organizing the event. the group quickly reached thousands of people, including non-American googlers. Google CEO Sundar Pichai reportedly tolerated the protest in an internal email sent to employees on Tuesday.

"Earlier this week, we informed the Googlers that we were aware of the planned activities for today and that employees would receive the support they need if they wish to participate," Pichai said. a release given to TechCrunch today. "Employees have raised constructive ideas about how we can improve our policies and processes. We take into account all their comments in order to realize these ideas. "

Pichai also responded to the NYT report with a letter co-signed by Eileen Naughton, Vice President, Personal Operations, acknowledging that 48 people had been fired for sexual harassment in the past two years, including 13 executives.

We will be at the San Francisco event, which will begin at 11:10 am Pacific Standard Time. Here's a look at the protesters around the world this morning.