Google has fired nearly 50 employees for sexual misconduct since 2016
CEO Sundar Pichai says none of them received a severance package, unlike Andy Rubin.
On the heels of Thursday morning's news claiming that Andy "Father of Android" Rubin forced one of his subordinates to perform a sex act and also received a $90 million golden parachute when the company found out about the sexual assault accusations, Google CEO Sundar Pichai admits that sexual harassment at the company goes beyond this one incident.
The CEO sent an all-hands email to the company on Thursday, a copy of which CNBC was able to obtain, in response to the NYT bombshell report. In it, Pichai does not confirm or deny that Rubin was protected by the company when charges of sexual misconduct came to light and given a generous severance package to make a quiet exit from the company. He does points out that 48 other employees have had their employments terminated, including 13 mid-level executives. None of them received separation packages, however.
You can read the full text of Pichai's letter below:
From: Sundar
Hi everyone,
Today's story in the New York Times was difficult to read.
We are dead serious about making sure we provide a safe and inclusive workplace. We want to assure you that we review every single complaint about sexual harassment or inappropriate conduct, we investigate and we take action.
In recent years, we've made a number of changes, including taking an increasingly hard line on inappropriate conduct by people in positions of authority: in the last two years, 48 people have been terminated for sexual harassment, including 13 who were senior managers and above. None of these individuals received an exit package.
In 2015, we launched Respect@ and our annual Internal Investigations Report to provide transparency about these types of investigations at Google. Because we know that reporting harassment can be traumatic, we provide confidential channels to share any inappropriate behavior you experience or see. We support and respect those who have spoken out. You can find many ways to do this at go/saysomething. You can make a report anonymously if you wish.
We've also updated our policy to require all VPs and SVPs to disclose any relationship with a co-worker regardless of reporting line or presence of conflict.
We are committed to ensuring that Google is a workplace where you can feel safe to do your best work, and where there are serious consequences for anyone who behaves inappropriately.
Sundar and Eileen
Correction, 10/26/18, 9:15AM ET: This post originally stated that Pichai's letter to employees admitted the claims made in the New York Times. He didn't confirm or deny anything regarding Andy Rubin's dismissal from the company. We apologize for the error.
