Google has reached a $27 million settlement with employees who accused the tech giant of unfair labor practices, setting a record for the largest agreement of its kind, according to California state court documents that haven’t been previously reported.
The 2016 lawsuit was among the first glimpses of employee activism that swept through the tech industry over the past seven years. It stemmed from the termination of a worker at Google-owned Nest, who was fired for posting complaints about the company’s management on Facebook.
In the years that followed, Google, Facebook, Netflix and others faced employee walkouts, whistleblowers, and public letters, which led to firings, town halls, and revamped policies as tech companies grappled with how to contend with increasingly vocal staff.
The Google case was filed under California’s Private Attorneys General Act, which permits individuals to sue on behalf of the government for alleged labor code violations. Most of the settlement, which is still subject to court approval, will go to the state, with around 100,000 Google employees getting around $20 to $70 each, depending on how long they’ve worked at the company. (The purpose of PAGA is to punish the companies, rather than compensate employees.)
In terminating the employee, Google said the person had violated the company’s data classification guidelines that prohibited staff from divulging confidential information.
In the complaint to the NLRB and in the lawsuit, the employee alleged that the company’s data classification guidelines were too broad. California labor law requires corporate confidentiality policies to allow employees to speak about labor conditions. Google later revised the guidelines in 2017.
The settlement comes after a protracted legal fight led by lawyers from Baker Curtis & Schwartz and Outten & Golden.
Along the way, the case raised issues about employee surveillance and the over-use of attorney-client privilege to avoid legal scrutiny and accountability.
“While we strongly believe in the legitimacy of our policies, after nearly eight years of litigation, Google decided that resolution of the matter, without any admission of wrongdoing, is in the best interest of everyone,” a company spokesperson said.