On September 11, 2024, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released a report titled “High Tech, Low Inclusion: Diversity in the High Tech Workforce and Sector From 2014-2022.” In the report, the EEOC highlighted demographic disparities for workers in 56 STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) occupations and their hiring industries.
Now, only eight months later, Google has agreed to pay $50 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging racial bias. The 2022 lawsuit, brought by April Curley on behalf of herself and others similarly situated, alleges that Curley was hired in 2014, subjected to a hostile work environment, and wrongfully terminated in 2020. According to the lawsuit, Curley was hired to design a recruiting program aimed at historically Black colleges and universities, but the candidates were said to be not “googly” enough and were hazed. Curley accused Google of hiring few Black employees, steering Black employees into lower-level jobs, paying Black employees less, and denying Black employees advancement and leadership roles because of their race.
Similar allegations were settled in 2021, when Google agreed to pay $3.8 million to settle pay discrimination claims of female and Asian employees. Google also agreed to pay $11 million in 2019 to settle a class action age discrimination suit. Earlier this year, Google agreed to pay $28 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging it favored white and Asian employees. These allegations are consistent with the 2024 EEOC report, which indicated that charges of discrimination in the tech sector were more likely to involve allegations of age, pay, and/or genetic information discrimination than EEOC complaints in other sectors.
In conjunction with the $28 million settlement, Google agreed to take steps to address alleged pay discrimination. Similarly, as a part of the $50 million settlement, Google agreed to “take steps to ensure pay transparency and fairness” and identify any race-based pay disparities over the next three years.
Importantly, Curley had alleged that she sought help and reform and reported the alleged conduct to Google’s HR department and upper management to no avail. Curley maintained that her complaints were ignored and resulted in no meaningful investigations or corrective actions.
