Google has agreed to pay $50 million (£40 million) to settle a class-action racial discrimination lawsuit brought by Black employees. The suit, filed in 2022, alleged systemic disparities in hiring, pay, and promotion at the tech giant.
Former employee April Curley originally sued Google, claiming the company engaged in a “pattern and practice” of unfair treatment, steering Black workers into lower-level, lower-paid roles and creating a hostile work environment for those who spoke out. Other former workers joined the case, which gained 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.”
The lawsuit echoed years of complaints from Black employees, including prominent AI scholar Timnit Gebru, who said she was pushed out in 2020 after a dispute over a research paper. The suit claimed Google viewed Black candidates “through harmful racial stereotypes” and deemed them “not ‘Googly’ enough,” which it called a “dog whistle for race discrimination.”
The settlement, which does not admit liability, includes commitments to pay equity analyses, pay transparency measures, and limits on mandatory arbitration for employment disputes through at least August 2026.
