Google has agreed to pay $50m (£39m) to settle a class action lawsuit brought by Black employees who alleged systemic racial disparities in hiring, pay and career advancement. The legal action, filed in 2022, accused the tech giant of a 'pattern and practice' of unfair treatment.
Former Google employee April Curley initiated the suit, claiming Black workers were steered into lower-level and lower-paid jobs and faced a hostile work environment when speaking out. Other former employees joined, and the complaint later received class action status.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, representing the plaintiffs, said: 'This case is about accountability, plain and simple. For far too long, Black employees in the tech industry have faced barriers that limit opportunity. This settlement is a significant step toward holding one of the world’s most powerful companies accountable and making clear that discriminatory practices cannot and will not be tolerated.'
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. The lawsuit echoed complaints echoed by prominent artificial intelligence scholar Timnit Gebru, who said she was pushed out in 2020 after a dispute over a research paper examining the societal dangers of AI.
The lawsuit claimed that Google viewed Black job candidates 'through harmful racial stereotypes' and that hiring managers deemed Black candidates 'not “Googly” enough, a plain dog whistle for race discrimination.' Interviewers allegedly 'hazed' and undermined Black candidates, hiring them into lower-paying roles with less advancement potential based on race.
The settlement, which does not constitute admission of liability, includes commitments to pay equity analyses, pay transparency measures, and limits on mandatory arbitration for employment-related disputes through at least August 2026, according to Crump.
