A lawsuit against Google over gender pay inequality has reportedly won class-action status. According to a report in Bloomberg, a San Francisco judge recently certified this class action as Google failed to block the class-action status. The lawsuit was initially filed by four women — Kelly Ellis, Holly Pease, Kelli Wisuri and Heidi Lamar. They allege that Google violated the California Equal Pay Act by paying them less than their male counterparts.
With the class-action status, the suit can now apply to 10,800 women who have held various positions at Google since 2013. “This is a significant day for women at Google and in the technology sector, and we are so proud of our brave clients for leading the way. This order shows that it is critical that companies prioritize paying women equitably over spending money fighting them in litigation,” Kelly Dermody, a lawyer representing the women, said in an email to Bloomberg.
She says that the next move would be to get the case to trial which she expects to start in 2022.
As per a previously disclosed document, the lawsuit seeks more than $600 million in damages. It claims that Google used previous salary information to perpetuate wage inequality amongst its employees.
While Google has discontinued the practice in 2017, it has failed to address the wage gaps, the lawsuit claims.
Google, on the other hand, says that it has conducted an analysis to ensure salaries, bonuses and equity awards are fair over the past eight years. “If we find any differences in proposed pay, including between men and women, we make upward adjustments to remove them before new compensation goes into effect,” the company says. As per Google, 2,352 employees were paid more “across nearly every demographic category” in 2020.
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