Google sacks 48 people over sexual misconduct claims
The technology giant said it took an ‘increasingly hard line’ on misconduct by senior managers.
Google has sacked 48 people over sexual harassment claims in the last two years, its chief executive has said.
Thirteen senior managers were among those dismissed, according to an email sent to employees by chief executive Sundar Pichai and Eileen Naughton, VP people operations, and provided by a Google spokesman.
The technology giant said it took an “increasingly hard line” on misconduct by senior managers and offered employees avenues to report harassment anonymously.
Mr Pichai revealed the figure in a letter to employees in response to a report in the New York Times, which suggested Android mobile software creator Andy Rubin was given a 90 million dollar (£70.2 million) exit package despite facing misconduct allegations.
A spokesman for Mr Rubin told the paper he denied any misconduct and he had not been made aware of the claims when he left in 2014.
“In recent years, we’ve made a number of changes, including taking an increasingly hard line on inappropriate conduct by people in positions of authority: 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.”
The email also said the firm had enforced a policy requiring managers at vice president and senior vice president level to disclose relationships with co-workers.
