Google employees across the globe took part in a mass walkout in protest over the company’s protection of Android mobile software creator, Andy Rubin (pictured in New York in June), who has been accused of sexual assault allegations
Google’s CEO has admitted ‘we didn’t always do it right’, but insists sexual harassment is a societal problem after the tech giant paid out $90m to a sex-pest executive.
Thousands of employees took part in a mass walkout, dubbed the ‘Walkout For Real Change,’ one week after Android software creator Andy Rubin was accused of coercing a woman into performing oral sex on him in a hotel in 2013, reported by the New York Times.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai took to the stage yesterday, ‘It’s been a difficult time here,’ he told the New York Times DealBook conference. ‘There’s been anger and frustration within the company. We all feel it. I feel it too. At Google, we set a very high bar, and we clearly didn’t live up to our expectations.’
Rubin denied the allegations in a tweet, saying the article contained ‘numerous inaccuracies’ and ‘wild exaggerations’.
But Rubin is believed to have received a considerable exit package in 2014, valued at approximately $90 million, and was also loaned $14 million in 2012 to buy a seaside villa in Japan at one per cent interest.
Pichai refused to confirm there was a toxic culture and said, ‘Moments like this show that we didn’t always get it right, and so we are committed to doing better.’
Google has fired 48 people over sexual harassment in the last two years, 13 of them senior, according to the Times.
Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai, 46, admitted failings and said that he felt angry too – ‘We all feel it’ – at the New York Times DealBook conference yesterday as thousands of his employees marched against the company
Workers hold signs in New York yesterday outside Google’s offices on 14th Park Street as demonstrations were held in different time zones across their global offices
Google X director Richard DeVaul and former senior vice president Amit Singhal were also named in the Times report, as alleged perpetrators of sexual misconduct.
Pichai told the audience at the Times conference, ‘Sexual harassment is a societal problem and Google is a large company,’ and added, ‘We are definitely doing our best.’
The demonstration yesterday is the latest expression of a year-long backlash which has rocked Pichai’s tenure after he became CEO in 2015.
Last year he was the subject of intense scrutiny after he fired a software engineer who had deigned to question Google’s diversity and gender equality strategy in an internal memo.
James Damore sued the tech company in January, while Pichai said: ‘Within the company we allow for a lot of people to speak up, but we have a code of conduct.’
The demonstration helped scupper Google’s Maven project to help the U.S. military scan battlefields using drones and artificial intelligence.
Workers have also protested Google’s plans to launch a censored search engine in China, and work by Amazon and Microsoft to assist police agencies and federal immigration agents with facial recognition and other tools.
‘These people are not easily replaceable and as a result they have a significant amount of power,’ said Kade Crockford, who tracks how new technology affects civil rights for the ACLU of Massachusetts.
As the mass protest moved to the west coast, Google employees gathered in the San Francisco Bay area where the main headquarters is located in Mountain View, and Los Angeles to protest the company culture.
SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA
Rubin is accused of coercing a woman into performing oral sex on him while in a hotel room in 2013; As the mass protest moved to the west coast, Google employees gathered in the San Francisco Bay area outside of Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California
The demonstration on Thursday is the latest in the year-long backlash against exploitation of subordinates across industries
Google X director Richard DeVaul and former senior vice president Amit Singhal were also named in the Times report, as alleged perpetrators of sexual misconduct; Thousands of employees are shown after walking out of Google’s office in San Francisco, California on Thursday
The New York Times report that inspired this day of protest by Google employees came out on October 25, and revealed that Rubin resigned after a woman came to the company to report an alleged sexual assault; Thousands of Google employees are shown outside of the San Francisco Google office during the global walkout on Thursday
No mention was made of the accusations against Rubin to the public, and he was praised by executives on this way out in 2014; Google employees are shown outside of the San Francisco Google office during the global walkout on Thursday
Rubin was also reportedly paid $90 million in an exit package, even though Google wasn’t legally required to pay him anything upon his depature; Google employees are seen here as they walk off the job to protest the company’s handling of sexual misconduct claims on Thursday at the flagship office in the San Francisco Bar area in Mountain View, California
Google employees are shown outside of the San Francisco area Google office during the global walkout on Thursday
Rubin’s promised a $90 million severance package was paid out over time with the last payment scheduled for November; Google employees are shown walking out of work in Mountain View, California to protest Rubin’s massive handout despite sexual assault allegations that the company deemed to be credible
The San Francisco area was one of the last to join the demonstration which was scheduled to take place across the globe at 11.10am local time at each Google office location on Thursday
One protester in San Francisco held a sign that read, ‘Happy to quit for $90M, no sexual harassment required’
A sea of people fill the main quad on Google’s Mountain View campus in the San Francisco Bay area during a walkout that took place at 11.10am local time at global locations of the company’s offices on Thursday
A San Francisco Bay area Google employee holds a sign that reads, ‘Don’t be evil. Protect victims, not harassers,’ on Thursday
Two Google employees face out to a crowd of colleagues in San Francisco on Thursday holding signs that read ‘Speak up, speak out’ and ‘Sexual harassment stops here’ during a global protest against the handling of sexual misconduct claims
Workers protest against Google’s handling of sexual misconduct allegations outside of the company’s Mountain View, California, headquarters on Thursday
A Google employee faces out to a crowd of colleagues in San Francisco on Thursday holding a ‘Don’t be evil’ sign
Google employees fill Harry Bridges Plaza in front of the Ferry Building during a walkout on Thursday in San Francisco
Google employees march down the Embarcadero during a walkout on Thursday in San Francisco
As the mass protest moved to the west coast, Google employees gathered in the San Francisco Bay area where the main headquarters is located in Mountain View, and Los Angeles to protest the company culture.
Shortly before noon in Los Angeles at Google’s Venice Beach location, there were about 150 people standing in the blaring heat, as temperatures felt warmer than reported in direct sunlight.
The protesters there were gathered in a courtyard area at the Google office behind a big fence.
A female employee on a microphone was speaking to the crowd, encouraging those who wished to have a turn to talk to speak up.
The woman said the company has a lot of women in it and the group would look out for them.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
Shortly before noon in Los Angeles at Google’s Venice Beach location, there were about 150 people standing in the blaring heat, as temperatures felt warmer than reported in direct sunlight
A female employee on a microphone was speaking to the crowd, encouraging those who wished to have a turn to talk to speak up at the Venice, Califorrnia Google office
The Google employee protesters in Venice, California were gathered in a courtyard area at the Google office behind a big fence as a female co-worker woman said the company has a lot of women in it and the group would look out for them
Thursday’s workout could signal that a significant number of the 94,000 employees working for Google and its corporate parent Alphabet Inc. remained unconvinced the company is doing enough to adhere to Alphabet’s own mantra, urging all employees to ‘do the right thing.’
A Silicon Valley congresswoman tweeted her support of the Google walkout using the hashtag ‘#MeToo’ that is now synonymous with a global movement for fighting sexual misconduct.
‘Why do they think it’s OK to reward perpetrators & further violate victims?’ asked Representative Jackie Speier, who represents an affluent district where many of Google’s employees live.
Rubin said he had no knowledge of any investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct that was being conducted at the time of his departure from Google.
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
Google employees gather in a courtyard as they take part in a walkout from their jobs at the Google campus in Kirkland, Washington on Thursday, which is about 11 miles from the city of Seattle, across Lake Washington
Google employees in Seattle, Washington carry signs that read, ‘No one is free when others are oppressed’ and ‘Did the payoff pay off?’ during the global walkout on Thursday
Alice Lemieux (right) addresses fellow Google employees as they take part in a protest against what they said is the tech company’s mishandling of sexual misconduct allegations against executives on Thursday in Seattle, Washington
A Google employee in Seattle holds up a cardboard sign that reads ‘#GoogleWalkout’ on Thursday in Seattle during a protest
Rubin said he had no knowledge of any investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct that was being conducted at the time of his departure from Google
Rubin tweeted on October 25:
‘The New York Times story contains numerous inaccuracies about my employment at Google and wild exaggerations about my compensation.
‘Specifically, I never coerced a woman to have sex in a hotel room. These false allegations are part of a smear campaign to disparage me during a divorce and custody battle.
‘Also, I am deeply troubled that anonymous Google executives are commenting about my personnel file and misrepresenting the facts.’
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Google employees are shown here walking out of work in Chicago in protest of the tech company’s corporate culture
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
Google Inc., employees stage a walkout in their call for a safe workplace outside the Kendall Square MBTA station in Cambridge, Massachusetts
A Silicon Valley congresswoman tweeted her support of the Google walkout using the hashtag ‘#MeToo’ that is now synonymous with a global movement for fighting sexual misconduct; Google employees walking out in Cambridge on Thursday carry a sign feature the name of their demonstration, ‘Walkout for Real Change’
Google employees in Cambridge, Massachusetts carry signs that read ‘safe workplace’ and ‘workers rights are women’s rights’ during the global demonstration against the company’s handling of sexual misconduct claims on Thursday
Allegations that were reported against Rubin to the company before he resigned spurred this protest in part, thanks to a report by the New York Times that named several men at Google who are accused of inappropriate workplace behavior; Google employee protesters are shown in Cambridge, Massachusetts
A Google employee who walked out in Cambridge, Massachusetts carries a sign that reads, ‘I support non-hostile workplace’
Employees listen to fellow employee Natasha Ross (left) during a walkout calling for a safe workplace in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Thursday
Ross (with megaphone) speaks to her fellow Google co-workers during a walkout calling for a safe workplace in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Thursday
Despite Rubin’s denials, the global walkout was carried on Thursday, with Google employee protesters in New York seen carying signs that read, ‘Equity means always getting to keep the change,’ and ‘OK, Google Really?’
Another protester carried a piece of paper with the words, ‘OK, Google Set a time for ‘Up,” as they walked out of the office building located in Chelsea on 8th Avenue.
The same story publicizing the claims against Rubin also disclosed allegations of sexual misconduct of other executives, including Richard DeVaul, a director at the same Google-affiliated lab that created far-flung projects such as self-driving cars and internet-beaming balloons.
DeVaul had remained at the ‘X’ lab after allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced about him from 2013, claiming he told an job applicant that he and his wife were polyamorous and invited her to Burning Man during an interview, a festival that takes place in the Black Rock Desert of northwest Nevada and is known for nudity and drug use.
DeVaul resigned on Tuesday without severance and apologized for an ‘error of judgment’ in a statement.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Google employees walk off the job to protest the company’s lenient treatment of executives accused of sexual misconduct on Thursday in New York
The same story publicizing the claims against Rubin also disclosed allegations of sexual misconduct of other executives, including Richard DeVaul, a director at the same Google-affiliated lab that created far-flung projects such as self-driving cars and internet-beaming balloons; Google employee protesters participate in the walkout in New York on Thursday
A massive group of New York Google workers stand outside in a 14th street park after walking out as part of a global protest over workplace issues on Thursday
The crowd from the New York Google walkout was a diverse mixture of men and women standing in solidarity on Thursday
Google protesters walked through an arch at a 14th street park in New York City to gather during their walkout on Thursday
A woman in New York carried a sign that read, ‘Respect existence or expect resistance’ during Thursday’s Google walkout
A large crowd of people gather at a park on 14th street after walking out of New York’s Google offices on Thursday
A New Yorker carrying a ‘Not OK Google’ sign participates in the Google employee walkout over office culture on Thursday
Google employee protestors in New York carried signs that read, ‘Equity means always getting to keep the change’
Google employees in New York are shown at the start of their walkout, which kicked off at 11.10am Eastern time on Thursday
The crowd of fed-up New York Google employees are shown crossing the street aware from the office on Thursday
A long line of Google employee protesters line the sidewalk as they left work on Thursday at 11.10am local time in New York
Google employees stage a walkout on Thursday in New York, over sexual harassment within the organization
Women participating in New York’s Google walkout carried signs that read, ‘Worker’s rights are women’s rights’ and ‘Time’s up tech’ during the global walkout on Thursday, protesting the company’s protection of executives accused of sexual assault
The sidewalk in New York is completely filled with Google employees leaving the office to participate in the global protest
A New York Google employee carries a sign that reads, ‘Real change means that everyone is accountable’ on Thursday
A New York Google employee carries a sign that says, ‘OK, Google Really?’ while walking out in the global protest on Thursday
Another protester carried a piece of paper with the words, ‘OK, Google Set a time for ‘Up,” as they walked out of the office building located in Chelsea on 8th Avenue in New York
A few New York Google employees trickle out of the office on Thursday during the global walkout protest
A female Google employee walks out of the office with a look of sadness on her face during Thursday’s walkout
A New York Google employee carries a sign reading, ’90 million reasons for change’ during the walkout on Thursday
Google chief executive Sundar Pichai said in an email: ‘In the last two years, 48 people have been terminated for sexual harassment, including 13 who were senior managers and above;’ Pichai is seen here speaking at the New York Times DealBook conference on Thursday in New York City
The story also named former senior vice president Amit Singhal, who was accused in 2015 of groping an employee at an off-site event attended by many Google colleagues.
The company investigated the claim and found it to be credible.
Singhal was not fired, but was instead allowed to resign and given millions of dollars in an exit package that included a non-compete agreement.
Singhal’s public explanation for his departure came in the form of a blog post from February 2016, which said hewanted to focus more on philanthropy and his family.
In response to the Times story, Pichai and Eileen Naughton, VP people operations, sent a memo to employees, which read in part:
‘In the last two years, 48 people have been terminated for sexual harassment, including 13 who were senior managers and above. None of these individuals received an exit package.’
In the joint memo, Pichai said he found the revelations ‘difficult to read.’
Pichai said on Thursday at the DealBook confernce that Google is ‘a different place’ than it has been in years past, and now the company has ‘drawn a very hard line’ on the kind of inappropriate behavior that has been reported in recent years.
He noted, however, that ‘moments like this show we didn’t always do it right.’
‘Sexual harassment is a societal problem and Google is a large company,’ he said. ‘We are definitely doing our best.’
TORONTO, CANADA
A Google employee reads from a list of accounts from other employees during a walkout in Toronto on Thursday
The crowd listens intently to accounts from other employees during a walkout in Toronto on Thursday
Google employees came out in the rain to protest against mishandling of sexual misconduct in a walkout in Toronto
Google employees gather under a tree as others read from a list of personal accounts during a walkout in Toronto on Thursday
Google employees around the world walked off the job Thursday in a protest against what they said is the tech company’s mishandling of sexual misconduct allegations against executives
Google employees return to the company’s office in Canada following a walkout in Toronto on Thursday
But one Google employee, who wished to remain anonymous, told BuzzFeed News:
‘Personally, I’m furious. I feel like there’s a pattern of powerful men getting away with awful behavior towards women at Google’ or if they don’t get away with it, they get a slap on the wrist, or they get sent away with a golden parachute, like Andy Rubin.
‘And it’s a leadership of mostly men making the decisions about what kind of consequences to give, or not give.’
DUBLIN, IRELAND
Google employees at its European headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, join others from around the world walking out of their offices in protest over claims of sexual harassment, gender inequality and systemic racism at the company
A Silicon Valley congresswoman tweeted her support of the Google walkout using the hashtag ‘#MeToo’ that is now synonymous with a global movement for fighting sexual misconduct; Google employees walk out of its European headquarters in Dublin, Ireland on Thursday
Thursday’s workout could signal that a significant number of the 94,000 employees working for Google and its corporate parent Alphabet Inc. remained unconvinced the company is doing enough to adhere to Alphabet’s own mantra, urging all employees to ‘do the right thing;’ Google employees are shown walking out in Dublin, Ireland on Thursday
Following Rubin leaving Google four years ago in 2014 to create Playground Global, a sexual assault claim was reported to Google’s human resources department and subsequently an investigation was opened; Employees are seen here staging for their walkout outside of Google offices in Dublin, Ireland on Thursday
Men and women walk out of the Dublin, Ireland Google office on Thursday in protest of the handling of sexual assault claims
Walkout organizers said they have presented petitions and demanded stricter employee oversights to management, while some even left their positions at the company as way to express their disapproval.
The company executives said Google has taken an ‘increasingly hard line’ on misconduct by senior managers and offered employees avenues to report harassment anonymously.
‘We are committed to ensuring that Google is a workplace where you can feel safe to do your best work, and where there are serious consequences for anyone who behaves inappropriately,’ the memo read.
Google said that none of the nearly 50 people fired for sexual harassment in the past two years got an exit package; Employees are shown here walking out of the Google office in Dublin, Ireland on Thursday in protest over claims of sexual harassment, gender inequality and systemic racism at the tech giant
A man wearing a Google slogan T-shirt that reads ‘don’t be evil’ hands out doughnuts to workers standing outside Google’s European headquarters after they walked out as part of a global protest over workplace issues, in Dublin, Ireland on Thursday
People embrace outside of the Google European headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, during the protest over claims of sexual harassment, gender inequality and systemic racism at the tech giant
A crowd of people smiles in Dubin, Ireland, during the mass walk out of Google employees on Thursday
People in orange vests are seen standing among the crowd, as photographers document the Google walkout in Dublin
‘And it’s a leadership of mostly men making the decisions about what kind of consequences to give, or not give,’ an anonymous Google employee told Buzzfeed News; A walkout from Google is shown in Dublin, Ireland on Thursday
Rubin left Google four years ago in 2014 to create Playground Global, an incubator for hardware startups.
Shortly before his exit, a claim accusing Rubin of coercing a woman into performing oral sex in a hotel room in 2013 was reported to Google’s human resources department and an investigation was opened.
Just a few weeks into the investigation, Rubin was given an additional stock package of $150million in September of 2014.
According to the Times, that stock package was unusually high by Google’s standards.
Eventually, Google officials found the woman’s claim to be credible.
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND
A Google employee told Buzzfeed News: ‘I feel like there’s a pattern of powerful men getting away with awful behavior towards women at Google’ or if they don’t get away with it, they get a slap on the wrist, or they get sent away with a golden parachute, like Andy Rubin;’ Employee protestors are shown here walking out of Google in Zurich, Switzerland
LONDON, ENGLAND
Organizers said they have presented petitions and demanded stricter employee oversights to management, while some even left their positions at the company as way to express their disapproval; The Google offices in Granary Square, London are shown here, where members of staff staged a walkout as a part of a protest over the company’s treatment
Employees are seen here outside of Google’s office in London, ahead of their walkout on Thursday
Google executives said the company has taken an ‘increasingly hard line’ on misconduct by senior managers; Employees are shown in London on Thursday before their walk out in protest of the handling of such claims
A woman wears a shirt that reads, ‘ Women need more sleep than men because fighting the patriarchy is exhausting’
London Google employees wait outside during the time leading up to a walkout in protest of company culture on Thursday
Google employees stand together outside of the company’s office int he United Kingdom on Thursday
Rubin was later asked to resign by Google’s co-founder, Larry Page, which he did in October of 2014.
But Page, who was chief executive of Google at the time, praised Rubin upon his departure.
‘I want to wish Andy all the best with what’s next,’ Page said. ‘With Android he created something truly remarkable — with a billion-plus happy users.’
And despite the credible claim, Rubin was reportedly paid the $90million exit package in the form of monthly payments ranging from $1.25million to $2.5million over the course of four years.
A large crowd is formed with people carrying umbrellas and braving the weather to walk out of Google in London on Thursday
A woman is seen talking on her phone as people talk and mingle preparing for the Google walkout in London on Thursday
Rubin is accused of coercing the woman into performing oral sex in a hotel room in 2013; Google staff are shown walking out at the company’s UK headquarters in London on Thursday
People are shown wearing jackets as they leave the Google office in London in protest over how the company handles claims of sexual misconduct within the organization
London Google employees walk about outside of the office, in the midst of the walkout to protest company culture
London Google employees check their phones and converse during the walkout held at the England office on Thursday
Rubin was also loaned $14 million in 2012 by Google to purchase a luxurious seaside villa in Japan (shown)
People briefed on the transaction said the loan for the estate was offered at an interest rate of less than one percent
The terms of the separation agreement precluded Rubin from working for Google’s rivals or disparaging the company in public.
The agreement also delayed repayment of the $14 million loan Rubin obtained from Google, which he used to buy a seaside Japanese villa, which was already offered at the incredibly low interest rate of less than one percent.
The same villa, which is less than 90 minutes from Tokyo and is referred to as Galleria Cost, was listed for rent 126 days ago.
According to the Times, Rubin’s ex-wife, Rie, filed a civil suit this month.
In the suit, she claimed he had multiple ‘ownership relationships’ with other women during their marriage and paid the women hundreds of thousands of dollars. They finalized their divorce in August.
The same villa, which is less than 90 minutes from Tokyo and is referred to as Galleria Cost, was listed for rent 126 days ago
A screenshot of an August 2015 email Rubin reportedly sent to one woman was also included in the suit.
‘You will be happy being taken care of,’ he wrote, according to the Times. ‘Being owned is kinda like you are my property, and I can loan you to other people.’
A spokesperson for Rubin said he denied any misconduct and he had not been made aware of the claims when he left in 2014.