Google Sued For Alleged Pay Discrimination

Google Inc. was sued in a class-action lawsuit of systematically paying male employees more than their female counterparts, adding the search giant to a growing list of technology companies sued for gender discrimination.

Three women who worked at Google in recent years sued the company over its salary practices, alleging the search giant of discriminating against its female employees by systematically paying them less than men who do similar jobs.

"This lawsuit is an effort to pull down the barriers and shatter the stereotypes," their lawyer, San Francisco attorney James Finberg, said in a phone call. "Unconscious bias plays a large role in perpetuating gender disparities and compensation."

In the suit, which was filed Tuesday in California Superior Court in San Francisco, the plaintiffs say Google knew or should have known about the pay inequality between men and women at the company, but failed to take action to resolve it.

“Google has discriminated and continues to discriminate against its female employees by systematically paying them lower compensation than Google pays to male employees performing substantially similar work under similar working conditions,” the lawsuit claims.

Google said it disagrees with the lawsuit’s central allegations. Gina Scigliano, a spokeswoman for Google, said the company was reviewing the suit, but added that “we disagree with the central allegations.” Job levels and promotions at Google, she said, are determined through a rigorous process that includes checks to ensure there that no gender bias figured in decisions.

“We have extensive systems in place to ensure that we pay fairly,” she said.

Although the Google lawsuit seeks back-pay for the women, Finberg said he also wants to permanently change the culture of an industry leader in a way that will impact other companies, big and small, "so women in the future are treated fairly."

The tech industry has been bombarded with accusations of sexism and sexual harassment. Microsoft Corp. and Twitter Inc. were both sued in 2015 on behalf of female engineers claiming men are favored for advancement.