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Alphabet shareholder sues over sexual misconduct of executives

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:

Sexual misconduct