Google agreed to a $ 3.8 million deal with federal regulators to resolve claims that it paid software engineers poorly and unfairly rejected Asian women and candidates for software engineering roles.
The agreement is divided into three groups, the US Department of Labor announced on Monday. As part of the deal, some 2,500 women who currently work in engineering positions for Google will receive a total of $ 1.35 million, or about $ 527 per employee.
An additional $ 1.23 million in late payments, about $ 414 per person, will go to a group of just under 3,000 candidates for “non-contracted software engineering positions”. The remaining $ 1.25 million is set aside for salary adjustments for employees who currently work as software engineers based at Google’s California, New York and Washington state offices.
“Wage discrimination remains a systemic problem. Employers should conduct regular pay equity audits to ensure that their compensation systems promote equal opportunities,” said Jenny R. Yang, director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, when announcing the deal.
The settlement covers the period from 2014 to 2017; DOL discovered discrepancies during routine audits that companies that work as contractors or federal suppliers go through on a regular basis.
“We believe that everyone should be paid based on the work they do, not who they are, and invest heavily to make our hiring and compensation processes fair and impartial,” Google said in a statement. “We are pleased to have resolved this issue related to the 2014-2017 audit allegations and remain committed to diversity and equity and to supporting our people in a way that allows them to do their best work.”
The agreement with the Department of Labor is separate from the class action lawsuit that women who worked for Google filed the lawsuit in 2017, claiming that Google discriminated against female employees both in job placement and in pay. It is also unrelated to the shareholder lawsuits that Google settled last year related to the handling of allegations of sexual harassment within the company.