Google staff walkout to protest over sexual harassment

Google staff all over the world are walking out of the offices today to protest over the sexual harassment cases in the company.

Google Walkout Photo from Singapore Office

According to the organizers of the Google Walkout for Real Change team, “more than 1,500 employees, mostly women, are planning to walk out from more than 60 percent of Google’s offices at 11:10Am as time zones roll around the world”.

A YouTube product marketing manager, Claire Stapleton also said: “We don’t want to feel that we are unequal or we are not respected anymore”. “Google’s famous for its culture. But in reality, we are not even meeting the basics of respect, justice and fairness for every single person here.”

The walk out is already taking place in Asian countries like Tokyo and Singapore offices with photos  being posted on the organizers official Twitter and Instagram pages using the hashtag #GoogleWalkout.

Google Walkout Photo from Zurich Office

The organizers of the walkout are demanding that Google should make the following five solid changes to its company policy:

1. An end to forced arbitration in cases of harassment and discrimination.
2. A commitment to end pay and opportunity inequity.
3. A publicly disclosed sexual harassment transparency report.
4. A clear, uniform, globally inclusive process for reporting sexual misconduct safely and anonymously.
5. Elevate the Chief Diversity Officer to answer directly to the CEO and make recommendations directly to the board of directors, and appoint an employee representative to the board.

Below is the flyer that all staff who choose to join the walk out are leaving at their desk:

The cause of the protest among employees has been the fallout around allegations surrounding Andy Rubin, the creator of the Android operating system, who left the company in 2014 after receiving a $90 million as exit package that Google wasn’t obligated to grant. The Alphabet CEO Larry Page, who headed the Google before its organization, asked Rubin to resign following claims that he had coerced an employee into performing oral sex on him in a hotel room the previous year.

Earlier this week, Former SVP of search Amit Singhal was also reported to have received an exit package worth millions after his resign with the allegations of sexual misconduct, while Rich DeVaul, Google X director was allowed to keep his job when Google decided to take proper action following claims made by a prospective employee. DeVaul also later resign earlier this week after being named in the Times story.