Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Google Alleges 'Systematic' Gender Discrimination

By Aimée Lutkin  |  September 14, 2017 | 7:10pm
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On Thursday, three former employees filed a gender discrimination suit against against Google in San Francisco Superior Court, over pay and promotion discrepancies between their male and female employees.

In recent months, Google’s labor practices have been under investigation, and an anti-diversity doc created by a Google employee has kicked up complaints about persist harassment and sexism at the company; on Friday, it was reported that over the past few years, employees have taken matters into their own hands and gathered their own data on the gender pay gap. In July, it was rumored that almost sixty women considered joining a class-action lawsuit against Google, but per the press release sent to Jezebel, only three are named at this juncture: Kelly Ellis, Holly Pease, and Kelli Wisuri.

Bloomberg News reports that none are currently at Google. All were frustrated by their inability to move up within the company, and are pointing to the data collected from Department of Labor investigations as proof that this is a persistent problem for Google:

One plaintiff, software engineer Kelly Ellis, worked at Google’s Mountain View office from about May 2010 to July 2014, according to the complaint. Another, Holly Pease, performed a variety of managerial roles at two of Google’s offices from 2005 to 2016. The third, Kelli Wisuri, worked as a sales communications specialist and “brand evangelist” from late 2012 to early 2015. They allege Google kept them in “job ladders” that had lower compensation ceilings than men with similar skills.

According to the website created by the women’s attorneys, James M. Finberg and Kelly M. Dermody, the lawsuit is accusing the company of maintaining a “policy, pattern, and practice” of “sex discrimination against female employees” which has led to lower pay and job equality across the board. They’re asking for a jury trial

You can read the full lawsuit, Ellis v. Google Inc., here:

 
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