Google Reforms Sexual Misconduct Rules Following Worldwide Company Walkouts

Tech giant Google has reformed its rules relating to sexual misconduct following worldwide company walkouts in protest of multiple allegations of sexual assault by Google executives.

Following a number of walkouts at Google offices worldwide — including at its Mountain View headquarters location where approximately 3000 employees vacated the building — in protest of allegations of sexual assault by executives at the company, the tech giant has chosen to update their policies relating to sexual misconduct. The Chicago Tribune reports that the company is planning to be more forceful and transparent about the handling of sexual misconduct claims by Google employees.

In an email sent to staff this week, Google CEO Sundar Pichai laid out the company’s plans stating: “Google’s leaders and I have heard your feedback and have been moved by the stories you’ve shared. We recognize that we have not always gotten everything right in the past and we are sincerely sorry for that. It’s clear we need to make some changes.”

Google gave in to some of the demands made by employees, such as dropping mandatory arbitration of all sexual misconduct cases, which will now be optional under the companies new policies. Google will also be providing more details about reports of sexual misconduct at the company, these internal reports will be available to all employees at the company.

The company is also attempting to increase training around office harassment and sexual misconduct, requiring employees to go through training related to this every year rather than every two years. Those that fail to attend these training seminars, including high-level executives, will have this noted in their performance reviews and could receive pay cuts as a result.

As part of their efforts to increase diversity levels across the company, Google will also require that at least one woman or a non-Asian ethnic minority be included on the list of candidates being considered for executive jobs.