Google to settle gender discrimination suit with $118 million

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Google will be paying $118 million as a settlement to a 2017 class-action gender discrimination lawsuit that includes some 15,500 women who have accused the tech giant of discriminating against them on the basis of gender.

Due to the mounting accusations against the firm, the settlement press release noted that Google was required to have an independent labor economist evaluate its hiring practices and pay equity studies.

The lawsuit first saw light in 2017, when three women filed a complaint accusing the company of underpaying its female workers, which constituted a violation of the California Equal Pay Act. The plaintiff said Google had a wage gap of around $17,000 between male and female employees.

The claims did not stop at financial compensation, as the trio also said Google locked women into lower career tracks, which, in turn, leads them to earn less and gain lower bonuses compared to their male counterparts

The plaintiff was able to make the lawsuit into a class action lawsuit last year after they were able to win the status, which allowed them to represent around 10,800 women at the time.

Google has long been the subject of mounting criticism for its treatment of workers, agreeing last year to pay $2.5 million to settle a lawsuit that claimed they had underpaid female engineers and overlooked Asian job applicants. California's Department of Fair Employment and housing is also probing into claims of potential harassment and discrimination against Black female employees.

The terms of the settlement still need to be approved by a judge in a hearing set to take place in late June. 

"While we strongly believe in the equity of our policies and practices, after nearly five years of litigation, both sides agreed that resolution of the matter, without any admission or findings, was in the best interest of everyone, and we’re very pleased to reach this agreement," Google said In a statement to The Verge.

Google also told the media outlet that it was "absolutely committed to paying, hiring and leveling all employees fairly and equally," promising to make "upward adjustments" if any wage gaps are found between male and female employees.

Pay gaps are not foreign to Silicon Valley, with various similar lawsuits aimed at the issue surfacing within the last decade. There have been class-action discrimination suits against Microsoft and Twitter, which failed to gain traction, and a wage gap lawsuit against Oracle that a judge will likely strip of its class-action status.

Other major tech companies, such as Apple and Riot Games, have also faced accusations of unequal pay.