Google paid $105m to two executives accused of sexual harassment
Google paid a total of $105m (£79m) to two executives after they were accused of sexual harassment, according to court documents released last night.
The lawsuit, filed by shareholder James Martin, confirms previous reports that Android creator Andy Rubin was paid $90m after he allegedly coerced sex from a colleague.
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It also reveals that former head of search Amit Singhal was paid $15m after he resigned amid a sexual assault investigation.
Singhal had been awarded a $45m payoff, but only received $15m after he broke a non-compete clause.
The Google boss joined Uber in 2017, but resigned shortly afterwards when then-boss Travis Kalanick discovered the investigation against him.
In an email to Bloomberg, Singhal said that "harassment is unacceptable in any setting" and that he wants "everyone to know that I do not condone and have not committed such behavior. In my 20-year career, I've never been accused of anything like this before, and the decision to leave Google was my own."
The lawsuit, which was filed against Google’s parent company Alphabet, accuses the board of failing in its responsibilities and states the payoffs have left the company vulnerable to reputational and financial damage.
In addition, the lawsuit alleges that Alphabet boss Larry Page did not get board approval before awarding a $150m stock grant to Rubin in 2014 while he was under investigation for sexual harassment.
The Android boss later used the grant to secure his $90m severance package, the suit states.
The lawsuit was originally filed in January, but redactions were only lifted yesterday.
A spokesperson for Google said: “There are serious consequences for anyone who behaves inappropriately at Google.
“In recent years, we’ve made many changes to our workplace and taken an increasingly hard line on inappropriate conduct by people in positions of authority.”
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Thousands of Google employees staged walkouts after the harassment claims were first reported by the New York Times in November.
The protests forced Google to publish a revamped manifesto on how it deals with sexual harassment and assault claims.