Google settles Black employees' racial bias lawsuit for $50 million

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) - Google agreed to wage $50 cardinal to settee a suit accusing the hunt motor institution of systemic radical bias against Black employees.

A preliminary colony covering much than 4,000 Google employees successful California and New York was filed connected Thursday evening successful the Oakland, California national court, and requires a judge's approval.

Plaintiffs successful the projected people enactment said Google has a "racially biased firm culture" wherever absorption steers Blacks to lower-level jobs, pays them less, downgrades their show ratings and denies them opportunities to advance.

According to the complaint, Black employees comprised lone 4.4% of Google's workforce and 3% of its enactment successful 2021.

The plaintiff April Curley, hired to grow outreach to historically Black colleges, said Google denied her promotions, stereotyped her arsenic an "angry" Black woman, and fired her aft six years arsenic she prepared a study connected its alleged radical bias.

Managers besides allegedly denigrated Black employees by declaring they were not "Googley" capable oregon lacked "Googleyness," which the plaintiffs called radical canine whistles.

Google, a portion of Mountain View, California-based Alphabet, denied wrongdoing successful agreeing to settle, and said it afloat complied with each applicable laws. It had nary contiguous further remark connected Friday.

The suit began successful March 2022 aft a regulator present known arsenic the California Civil Rights Department started investigating Google's attraction of Black pistillate employees.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs whitethorn question up to $12.5 cardinal of the colony money successful fees. On Monday, the lawyers dismissed related claims brought connected behalf of occupation applicants, citing grounds they had gathered and Google's "reasoned arguments."

The lawsuit is Curley et al v Google LLC, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 22-01735.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel successful New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot)