'Enough is enough': Google workers in San Francisco, Mountain View, Sunnyvale walk out in protest of treatment of women

ByMatt Keller and Kate Larsen KGO logo

Friday, November 2, 2018

Google workers in Bay Area walk out in protest of treatment of women

Google employees across the Bay Area joined workers around the world to protest what they say is the company's lenient treatment of executives accused of sexual misconduct.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Employees around the world are calling for changes in Bay Area-based Google handles sexual harassment and discrimination. This follows a New York Times story about allegations against this man.

Andy Rubin is the creator Google's Android software. He reportedly received $90 million in severance pay in 2014 after he was accused of sexual misconduct.

Rubin denies the allegations.

"We're walking out in support of those who've been harassed anywhere in the workplace and to ensure perpetrators are not rewarded or protected," said one Google employee.

There were three walkouts in the Bay Area on Thursday. SKY7 was above Google's main campus in Mountain View and Sunnyvale.

ABC7's Matt Keller saw hundreds, if not thousands, walk out at the company's campus in Mountain View. Many held signs that said statements like, "I believe women" and "Time's Up."

And in San Francisco, DRONEVIEW7 showed us the crowd.

With employees shouting "women's rights are worker's rights" and "enough is enough" from the middle of the Embarcadero, men and women of Google made sure management got their message about sexual harassment at the company.

At 11:10 a.m., DRONEVIEW7 was high above as hundreds walked out of work, essentially emptying the three San Francisco offices.

"There's an overall sense of insecurity," said Google marketing employee Rana Abdelhamid.

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Abdelhamid says women and minorities at Google are often reluctant to come forward when they're on the receiving end of misconduct.

"So it's the lack of presence of women generally, women at intersectional identities, women of color," she said. "But then also the lack of accountability, that makes people feel unsafe."

Another employee, Elli, recruits new talent at Google. She was not impressed with the CEO's email last week, that 48 employees have been fired in the past two years for sexual harassment.

"I personally would prefer an explicit apology, transparency and reparations," she said.

Emily Melotn, a partner at Silicon Valley VC firm DFJ, added, "These are no longer PR issues. These are cultural issues."

Melton has spent her entire career investing in tech companies.

She helped found All Raise, which today held its first all-female investor conference in San Francisco.

"What was new is that you had a group of women that were in powerful positions at their firms that could actually drive change," she said. "And we said enough is enough, we're going to take action and we're going to make this different."

In an unsigned statement from organizers, sent from a company account, protesters called for an end to forced arbitration in cases of harassment and discrimination. They also want Google to commit to ending pay inequity and to create a publicly disclosed sexual harassment report and a clearer process for reporting complaints.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai released a statement saying he was aware of the planned walkouts and that employees would "have the support they need if they wish to participate." He went on to say, "Employees have raised constructive ideas for how we can improve our policies and our processes. We are taking in all their feedback so we can turn these ideas into action."

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