Google has agreed to pay more than USD 3.8 million to settle allegations of systemic pay and hiring discrimination that disadvantaged women and Asian workers.
The payments will go to more than 5,500 current employees and job applicants from the company’s California and Washington state offices, the Department of Labor announced in a statement Monday evening.
As part of the resolution, Google denies any violations or noncompliance with any laws or regulations.
Of that sum, more than USD 1.3 million will go toward back pay, with interest, to 2,565 female employees in engineering positions who were allegedly subjected to pay discrimination, while over USD 1.2 million will be set aside for 1,757 women and 1,219 Asian applicants for software engineering positions who weren’t hired.
The Department of Labor said its Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs identified pay disparities affecting female employees in software engineering positions at Google offices in Mountain View, California, as well as in Seattle and Kirkland, Washington, during a routine compliance evaluation.
The agency said it also found hiring rate differences that disadvantaged women and Asian applicants for software engineering positions at Google outposts in San Francisco and Sunnyvale, California, as well as in Kirkland.
In addition to the back pay, the tech company will also allocate a reserve of USD 1.25 million for pay-equity adjustments over the next five years for employees in engineering positions in Mountain View, Kirkland, and New York City — where approximately 50% of Google’s engineers work.
