In Class-Action Lawsuit, 11,000 Female Google Employees Sue the Company Over Pay Disparity

Google's legal difficulties in the United States intensified as over 11,000 women launched a class-action lawsuit against the Silicon Valley behemoth over gender pay discrepancy. The lawsuit claims that Google pays men more for the same job than women, and it seeks a whopping $600 million in damages.

The complaint was brought on behalf of 10,800 women who claimed that Google violated California's Equal Pay Act. It was represented by four women. According to the lawsuit, the corporation compensated women employees in California $16,794 less per year than similarly-suited men.' The gap in pay is not confined to salaries.

Women have also claimed that a similar situation exists in other incentives, claiming that in the same position, code, and location as men, women were paid lower incentives and received less stock.

On May 28, Google was unable to stop the lawsuit after a state judge in San Francisco certified the class action, allowing four lead plaintiffs to represent the case's 11,0000 women. This was appreciated by Kelly Dermody, one of the case's representatives, who had previously chastised Google for preferring spending money battling women in court above paying women fairly.

Meanwhile, Google has refuted the allegations, stating it was willing to make salary adjustments if it discovered a pay gap between men and women. "We make upward adjustments to correct any discrepancies in proposed pay, including between men and women before new compensation takes effect," it stated.

This isn't the first time the IT behemoth has been accused of treating female employees unfairly. It has to pay USD 2.6 million to more than 5,500 employees in February 2021 to settle a Google lawsuit over inadequate compensation. Between 2014 and 2017, allegations were made against Google, alleging that salaries for female engineers and Asians in California and Washington state were lower than for men in identical jobs. Pay disparities have been reported at various Google offices, including those in California, Seattle, and Kirkland, Washington.

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