Google Settles Age-Bias Lawsuit with Job Seekers

Google has reportedly settled a class-action lawsuit alleging widespread age discrimination against over-40 job applicants at the company for $11 million.

The LA Times reports that Google has agreed to pay out $11 million to end a class-action lawsuit which alleged that the Silicon Valley giant was discriminating against older job applicants. The settlement works out to an average payout of $35,000 for 227 people who were part of the class-action suit. The settlement also asks that Google parent company Alphabet train employees and managers about age bias and form a committee focused on age diversity in recruiting.

Lawyers representing the over-40 job seekers in the class-action lawsuit submitted a final settlement proposal on Friday to a federal judge in San Jose. The lawyers will receive approximately $2.7 million from the settlement. The initial case was brought by a woman who claimed that Google interviewed her on four separate occasions over seven years but was never offered a job at the firm despite her “highly pertinent qualifications and programming experience,” due to her age. Cheryl Fillekes claimed that Google was engaging in a “systematic pattern and practice of discriminating against older people.”

Google has denied these allegations, stating that Fillekes and many other job seekers who were cited as examples of discrimination within the firm just didn’t demonstrate the technical aptitude needed to perform the job they interviewed for. Despite this, staff interviewers agreed that candidates were “Googley” enough to be a good fit at the firm.

Daniel Low, a lawyer for Fillekes, said in an email: “Age discrimination is an issue that needs to be addressed in the tech industry, and we’re very pleased that we were able to obtain a fair settlement for our clients in this case.”

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com