Jan 10, 2019 - Technology

Alphabet shareholder sues over sexual misconduct of executives

Kia Kokalitcheva

Photo of employees walking out of Google headquarters. — Google employees walk off the job to protest the company's handling of sexual misconduct claims in Mountain View, Calif. Photo: Mason Trinca/Getty Images

An Alphabet shareholder has sued the company's leadership over its approval of multi-million dollar exit packages for executives who'd been credibly accused of sexual misconduct.

Big picture: An October report by the New York Times detailed a history of covering up sexual harassment at Alphabet, Google's parent company, including the board's approval of an exit package worth $90 million for Android co-founder Andy Rubin after credible allegations that he had coerced an employee into a sexual act.

In addition to Rubin, the lawsuit cites other instances, such as the company's approval of a multi-million dollar exit package for former executive Amit Singhal in 2016 despite finding credible accusations against him of sexual harassment.
Alphabet chief legal officer David Drummond also reportedly earned $190 million in stock options and stock awards by the company since 2011 — after he had an extra-marital affair with an employee in his department who later charged that she was pushed out.

The revelations prompted a group of employees to organize a large employee walkout in November and press management for a number of changes, some of which the company agreed to.

The company has not returned a request for comment.

Go deeper: Google memo outcry is about something bigger

The full lawsuit:

Add Axios on Google

Alphabet shareholder sues over sexual misconduct of executives

What to read next