The settlement settles a class-action lawsuit filed in San Francisco Superior Court in 2017 by three female former employees who claimed that Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc., placed them in lower job levels than similarly qualified males, resulting in lower pay, and denied the women promotions or transitions to other teams, which would have resulted in better career advancement.
According to the plaintiffs' lawyers, the settlement covers approximately 15,500 female employees who worked at Google in California in 236 job titles after September 2013.
According to a statement issued Saturday by the law firms that represented the women, Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP and Altshuler Berzon LLP, independent experts will review Google's hiring practices and pay-equity studies as part of the settlement.
As part of the settlement, Google did not admit wrongdoing. A judge must still approve the terms of the settlement.
"While we strongly believe in the equity of our policies and practices," Google spokesman Chris Pappas said, "after nearly five years of litigation, both sides agreed that resolution of the matter, without any admission or findings, was in the best interest of everyone, and we're very pleased to reach this agreement."
He stated that the company is committed to fairly and equally paying, hiring, and promoting all employees. For the past nine years, the company has conducted a pay-equity analysis to determine whether salaries, bonuses, and equity awards are fair, he said.
"I'm optimistic that the actions Google has agreed to take as part of this settlement will ensure more equity for women," Holly Pease, one of the case's named plaintiffs, said in a statement released by the law firms. "They also have an opportunity to lead the charge to ensure inclusion and equity for women in tech," said Ms. Pease, who worked at Google in a variety of management roles for more than ten years.
For years, the tech industry has fought claims that it is inadequate in its hiring and treatment of women and minorities, and companies have long stated that they are working to improve their diversity policies and practices.
The 2017 lawsuit against Google, which was settled this month, followed discrimination allegations made by the Labor Department earlier that year as part of an audit of Google. The department's allegations were resolved in a settlement last year in which Google agreed to pay more than $3.8 million to more than 5,500 then-current female and Asian employees and job applicants who were found to be disadvantaged by the department. Google stated at the time that it invests heavily in fair hiring and compensation practices.
Google has also been chastised by male ex-employees who claim the company discriminated against conservative white men, such as James Damore, a former Google engineer who was fired after circulating a memo suggesting that men were better suited than women for certain tech jobs.