Google is being sued over gender pay disparity in a class-action lawsuit by 10,800 women who have held various positions at the company since 2013. The original suit brought by Google employees Kelly Ellis, Holly Pease, and Kelli Wisuri in 2017 was tossed out by a judge before being resubmitted in 2018 with an additional plaintiff, Heidi Lamar. A couple of weeks ago, they finally won class-action status to proceed with their lawsuit, which means the suit can now apply to 10,800 women who have been working for the company as engineers, program managers, salespeople, and even one preschool teacher.
The women seek more than $600 million in damages, alleging that Google has violated the California Equal Pay Act by paying them less than their male counterparts and promoting them slowly and less frequently. A previous filing in the suit, which references an analysis by UC Irvine economist David Neumark, states that female workers earn almost $16,800 less than male workers in similar roles.
Zoom In: One possible cause of the perpetuation of the gender pay disparity could lie in Google’s use of previous salary information. The company supposedly discontinued this practice four years ago but has failed to address the wage gaps since then.
