Three female former employees of Google filed a class action lawsuit against the company for discrimination against women in pay and promotions. They claimed Google pays women less for similar work as their male counterparts and for purposely assigning jobs to female employees that are less likely to lead to future promotions.
A California state judge dismissed those claims, saying it was inappropriate because it was brought on behalf of all women who worked for Google in the state. However, she gave the plaintiffs 30 days to file a new complaint only on behalf of the women who faced pay discrimination.
That may not be great news for Google. A recent poll conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health indicated that 56 percent of women believe that women are paid less than men for equal work where they live. Sixty-eight percent of women believe there is discrimination against women in America today.
This belief reaches across racial, ethnic and identity groups, with groups experiencing discrimination at different levels. The groups of women most likely to believe they have been discriminated against in terms of equal pay and promotion opportunities are LGBTQ women, Native American women and African-American women, respectively.
Whether or not this lawsuit comes back to haunt Google is yet to be determined. Regardless, the company continues to face an investigation by the U.S Department of Labor into sex bias in its pay practices outside of this claim.
Gender discrimination can be a real problem for employees. If you believe you have experienced similar employment issues, you have the right to seek counsel who can represent your rights in court against a discriminatory employer.