Google to End Forced Arbitration for Sexual-Harassment Claims--2nd Update
November 08 2018 - 07:48PM
Dow Jones News
By Douglas MacMillan
Google said it would end its requirement for employee
sexual-harassment claims to be handled in private arbitration, a
move that comes one week after thousands of workers walked out of
the company's offices around the world to protest its handling of
workplace issues.
In a memo on Thursday, Chief Executive Sundar Pichai told staff
that Google will also include greater detail on sexual-harassment
claims in regular reports and provide more services to employees
who raise concerns, including counseling and career support.
The Alphabet Inc. unit is contending with a rising tide of
activist employees, who are organizing to demand changes in the way
the company conducts business. The internet giant said earlier this
year it wouldn't renew a contract supporting the U.S. Defense
Department's drone-targeting program after hundreds of Google
workers signed a petition questioning the ethics of the
project.
The company hasn't backed away from its exploration of a
censored search engine for Chinese users, another source of
employee frustration.
The policy change for harassment claims is a victory for the
organizers of the world-wide walkout, in which employees huddled
outside of Google offices from Singapore to San Francisco chanting
"Time's Up!" and holding signs that read "Worker's rights are
women's rights."
The protest organizers published a letter with five demands,
including an end to forced arbitration, a system that encourages HR
staff to treat victims of harassment fairly and greater
transparency around the reports on harassment claims. In its steps
announced Thursday, Google didn't address two of the demands: that
the company commit to end pay inequity for women and minorities;
and that the company's chief diversity officer report directly to
the CEO.
In a blog post on Medium on Thursday, the organizers of the
walkout called Google's response "progress" but said the measures
don't go far enough to make diversity a priority and include
protections for the contract workers who make up a large portion of
the company's workforce.
The world-wide protest came together after the New York Times
reported that Google protected three senior executives over the
past decade after they were accused of sexual misconduct, including
one who received a $90 million exit package in 2014. Google
declined to comment on details in the Times story.
Google follows tech peers like Microsoft Corp. and Uber
Technologies Inc. in opting to end forced arbitration, a widespread
but controversial practice that prevents U.S. workers from suing
their employers in open court. Companies prefer arbitration for
sexual-harassment claims because it tends to yield quicker
settlements at a lower cost than class-action suits and may spare
companies from bad publicity.
The percentage of nonunion, private-sector employees in the U.S.
covered by the mandatory-arbitration clauses has more than doubled
since the early 2000s, according to a 2017 study by a Cornell
University professor and sponsored by the Economic Policy
Institute, a left-leaning think tank in Washington, D.C.
An analysis by The Wall Street Journal earlier this year found
that a small number of sexual-harassment claims actually reach
arbitration.
In many cases, workers drop the claims because they can't get
lawyers to take their cases. Plaintiffs' lawyers say they are
reluctant to represent arbitration clients on contingency fees
because potential settlement and award payouts are generally lower
than in court.
In an announcement outlining its policy changes, Google said it
had discovered that alcohol was a factor in about 1-in-5 harassment
complaints. The company said it would encourage senior executives
to restrict excessive drinking at company events.
The company also said it would dock the performance ratings of
any employee who doesn't complete sexual-harassment training,
including senior leaders.
Write to Douglas MacMillan at douglas.macmillan@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 08, 2018 19:33 ET (00:33 GMT)
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