Sixty is a very small number to consider as a sample, says Google spokesperson.
The crisis-struck search engine giant Google could face yet another legal battle over gender inequality in the workplace after more than 60 current and former employees have decided to sue the firm over sexism and wage disparity.
The Guardian on Tuesday reported that the women employees have hired civil rights attorney James Feinberg to represent them in the court.
The complainants have requested their lawyer to file a class-action suit against Google after they felt less paid when compared to their male counterparts who have identical qualifications.
The women have reportedly stated that the work atmosphere for women in Google remains to be hostile and the company offers very little scope for women employees to go ahead in their career.
A Google spokesperson was quoted by Guardian saying that sixty is a very small number to consider as a sample to come to any conclusion.
Currently, Google has 31 percent female workforce out of a total of 72,053 employees, which makes the number of female staff at Google 22,336.
The spokesperson also added that there are differences in salary based on the location, role, and performance of an employee, but gender has never been a yardstick during the evaluation.
Google has been battling with a leaked anti-diversity manifesto sent by one of its engineers to its staffs. The engineer who sent the memo was sacked on Tuesday and the CEO Sundar Pichai had to cut short his family vacation to address the crisis.
Pichai, in an email sent across to employees of Google, said that the manifesto of the engineer is “advancing harmful gender stereotypes” in the workplace.
If the women petitioners go ahead with the class-action suit, it will become an additional legal burden for Google that is already facing a case filed by US Department of Labor for systematically underpays women. The department recently got the nod from a judge to force the company to hand over a portion of the company’s salary records.
Interestingly, Google on its Diversity official website says that a survey found that women in tech were less likely to self-nominate for promotions.
The website also says that the company has been following gender pay equity in the firm. The site also boasts of Google’s caregiver leave program and their LGBT policies.
“They are concerned that women are channeled to levels and positions that pay less than men with similar education and experience,” Attorney Finberg said to the Guardian.