Google to pay $118 million to settle gender discrimination lawsuit

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Around 15,500 women are part of the class-action gender discrimination lawsuit that will be settled for $118 million. An independent labor economist is required to evaluate its hiring practices and pay equity studies.

Three women filed a complaint accusing the company of underpaying them in violation of the Equal Pay Act. According to the complaint, women are locked into lower career tracks, which leads to less pay and lower bonuses compared to men. A group of people won class-action status.

More than once, the treatment of workers by the company has been critiqued. The lawsuit claimed that the company paid female engineers less than men and overlooked Asian job applicants. The company is being investigated by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing.

As a woman who has spent her entire career in the tech industry, Holly Pease is optimistic that the actions the company has agreed to take will ensure more equity for women. The tech industry has been led by Google. They have the chance to lead the charge to make sure women are included in tech.

A judge will approve the terms of the settlement on June 21st. The Verge asked for comment from the company, but they didn't reply.

Within the last decade, a number of similar lawsuits targeting pay gaps have surfaced, with class-action gender discrimination suits against Microsoft andTwitter failing to gain traction. The group of women suing the company will likely lose class-action status after a judge said a class with 3,000 employees and 125 job classifications wouldn't be manageable to proceed to trial. Apple and Riot Games have been accused of pay discrimination.