To those of us who’ve ever been let go from a position, first of all, my sincerest apologies if the decision wasn’t on your terms, but if it were, how do you think it was handled? When a company says, “bon voyage,” to a former employee, especially if this company is a large tech company responsible for the world’s most recognizable search engine, it must be taken care of with attention to detail. Interestingly enough, if this individual were being released because of accusations of sexual misconduct, you’d think the firing company would be even more likely to handle it properly.
In October 2014, Andy Rubin, the creator of Android mobile software, left the Alphabet-backed (GOOG) company we’ve all come to know and trust as Google. Prior to his departure from the company, Rubin had been accused of sexual misconduct by a fellow Google (GOOG) employee. As the story goes, in 2013, Rubin was cheating on his wife with a colleague from the company. One night, while the two were in a hotel room, the employee says Rubin coerced her into unwanted sexual contact, and following a corporate investigation, her claims were found to be credible.
With this new information brought to the table, one would assume this would be grounds for immediate dismissal from a position, with little to no severance, and Rubin would find it very difficult when his next employer asked for references from a previous work experience.
But Google (GOOG) didn’t fire Andy Rubin, he left with his head held high in the air, and his spirits lifted. Rather than being fired, filing for unemployment, and figuring it out like anyone found guilty of sexual harassment in the workplace would have to, Google issued Mr. Rubin a $90 million dollar severance package, paid in installments of $2 million a month for four years, according to the New York Times.
Upon his departure, Google’s (GOOG) chief executive at the time, Larry Page, sent Rubin off with kind words:
“I want to wish Andy all the best with what’s next. With Android, he created something truly remarkable — with billion-plus happy users.”
Rather than Rubin lambasted by Google (GOOG) executives and members of the tech industry, he was lauded and paid an exorbitant price for committing a crime. While the company may have handled this situation with indelicate decisions, hundreds of Google (GOOG) employees worldwide are planning a large-scale walk-out to protest the company’s poor handling of sexual assault cases.
According to several news outlets, Google (GOOG) staff in Zurich, London, Tokyo, Singapore, and Berlin plan on participating in the protests on Thursday. Reports indicate that over a thousand employees will walk out of Google offices around the world at 11:10 am local time. As for the organizers’ demands, they created a twitter account with the handle, @GoogleWalkout, and tweeted their expectations of Google execs.
#GoogleWalkout Demands
- An end to Forced Arbitration in cases of harassment and discrimination.
- A commitment to end pay and opportunity inequity
- A publicly disclosed sexual harassment transparency report
- A clear, uniforms, globally inclusive process for reporting sexual misconduct safely and anonymously.
- Elevate the Chief Diversity Officer to answer directly to the CEO and make recommendations directly to the Board of Directors. In addition, appoint an Employee Representative to the Board
Google’s employees are outraged and rightfully so. In a world where women get paid $0.70 to a man’s earning of $1, and sexual misconduct cases not only get swept under the rug but perpetrators get paid hush money in lump sums, protests and upset are warranted.
Sundar Pichai, Google’s (GOOG) chief executive, responded to his employees’ demonstrative efforts:
“Employees have raised constructive ideas for how we can improve our policies and our processes going forward. We are taking in all their feedback so we can turn these ideas into action. I understand the anger and disappointment that many of you feel. I feel it as well, and I am fully committed to making progress on an issue that has persisted for far too long in our society.”
–Sundar Pichai, Chief Executive Officer, Google
Despite Pichai’s supportive words for his employees, this doesn’t change the fact that the company has reportedly released over 49 employees in the last two years because of sexual assault, with several of them being executives given large severance packages like Andy Rubin.
Companies, especially tech industry titans like Google, need to lead by example and handle sexual assault claims with brevity and effective solutions, not just pay an executive to remain quiet.
