Google sorry, will change sexual misconduct policy

San Francisco, November 9

Google is promising to be more forceful and open about its handling of sexual misconduct cases, a week after thousands of high-paid engineers and others walked out in protest over its male-dominated culture.

Google bowed to one of the protesters’ main demands by dropping mandatory arbitration of all sexual misconduct cases. That will now be optional, so workers can choose to sue in court and present their case in front of a jury. It mirrors a change made by ride-hailing service Uber after complaints from its female employees prompted an internal investigation. The probe concluded that its rank had been poisoned by rampant sexual harassment. “Google’s leaders and I have heard your feedback and have been moved by the stories you’ve shared,” CEO Sundar Pichai said in an email to Google employees.

“We recognise that we have not always gotten everything right in the past and we are sincerely sorry for that. It’s clear we need to make some changes.”

Last week, the tech giant’s workers left their cubicles in dozens of offices around the world to protest what they consider the management’s lax treatment of top executives and other male workers accused of sexual harassment and other misconduct.

Google will provide more details about sexual misconduct cases in internal reports available to all employees. The company is also stepping up its training aimed at preventing misconduct.

But Google didn’t address protesters’ demand for a commitment to pay women the same as men doing similar work. — AP

What triggered row

Google got caught in the crosshairs two weeks ago after a US newspaper detailed allegations of sexual misconduct against the creator of Google's Android software, Andy Rubin. It said Rubin received a $90 million severance package in 2014 after Google concluded the accusations were credible. Rubin has denied the allegations.