Memo to Google Employees Reveals Widespread Sexual Harassment
*By Jim Roberts*
Google acknowledged on Thursday that it had fired 48 people over the past two years for sexual harassment, including 13 senior managers or higher.
CEO Sundar Pichai disclosed the terminations hours after the [New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/25/technology/google-sexual-harassment-andy-rubin.html) reported that the company had paid a $90 million exit package to former exec Andy Rubin in 2014, even after an employee accused him of sexual misconduct.
According to the Times, Rubin was one of three high-ranking executives that Google protected ー and paid millions of dollars to ー over the past decade after accusations of sexual misconduct. One of the executives, David Drummond, has remained at the company and is now chief legal officer of Google’s parent company Alphabet ($GOOGL).
In a letter sent to employees Thursday afternoon [obtained by CNBC](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/25/google-ceo-memo-says-48-fired-for-sexual-misconduct.html), Pichai said the Times’ article “was difficult to read.” He went on to say that Google was “dead serious” about providing a “safe and inclusive workplace.”
He said the company had taken an “increasingly hard line on inappropriate conduct by people in positions of authority” and had terminated 48 people as a result. “None of these individuals received an exit package,” he said.
In addition Pichai said Google would require vice presidents and senior vice presidents to “disclose any relationship with a co-worker regardless of reporting line or presence of conflict.”
The letter was co-signed by Eileen Naughton, Google's VP of people operations.
Pichai sent his letter to the staff shortly before Google announced third-quarter revenues, which came in below Wall Street expectations.
Sinead O’Sullivan breaks down Taylor Swift’s genius marketing for The Life of a Showgirl, which just set the record for most albums sold in a single week.
Markets are emerging from a turbulent Q3. Horizon’s Mike Dickson shares insights on interest rates, small caps, and where investors should look in Q4 and beyond
Bambu Ventures's Kyle Pretsch dives into Lemonaid’s $10M buyout, down from 23andMe’s $400M price tag, and what’s next after Chrome Co.’s dramatic pivot.
Former Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers learned all about technology’s volatile highs and lows as a veteran of the internet’s early boom days during the late 1990s and the ensuing meltdown that followed the mania. And now he is seeing potential signs of the cycle repeating with another transformative technology in artificial intelligence. Chambers is trying take some of the lessons he learned while riding a wave that turned Cisco into the world's most valuable company in 2000 before a crash hammered its stock price and apply them as an investor in AI startups. He recently discussed AI's promise and perils during an interview with The Associated Press.
Grove Collaborative’s CEO shares how the company is reinventing everyday goods with sustainability at the core and working toward a plastic-free future.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens shares plans for affordable housing, community-led growth, and why private and public grocery stores could be key to food equity.
Tesla reported a surprise increase in sales in the third quarter as the electric car maker likely benefited from a rush by consumers to take advantage of a $7,500 credit before it expired on Sept. 30. The company reported Thursday that sales in the three months through September rose 7% compared to the same period a year ago. The gain follows two quarters of steep declines as people turned off by CEO Elon Musk’s foray into right-wing politics avoided buying his company’s cars and even protested at some dealerships. Sales rose to 497,099 vehicles, compared with 462,890 in the same period last year.
