Google Dodges Gender Discrimination Class Action, For Now

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Tech giant Google escaped a class action lawsuit that alleges the company systematically discriminates against women, but the plaintiffs were given a second chance to amend their complaint.

Lead plaintiffs, Kelly Ellis, Holly Pease, and Kelli Wisuri, allege that they and other women were paid less because of a pervasive discriminatory culture at Google.

The plaintiffs claim that both a federal regulatory agency and internal Google spreadsheets demonstrate that women at the company made less on average than men in the same job.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Mary E. Wiss took issue with the federal regulatory agency’s report. The judge said that the plaintiffs took the information too far and need to refine how they use it to establish the potential Class.

The information at issue is from the U.S. Department of Labor. The agency audits government contractors and filed an administrative lawsuit against Google in early 2017 for compensation data. The agency concluded that Google refuses to start women at the same pay level as men and as workers progress through the career system, that pay gap increases.

The plaintiffs sought to represent all women at Google, but Judge Wiss pointed out that the data from the Department of Labor did not include every job classification at Google. The judge expressed doubt that the lead plaintiffs in the lawsuit could adequately represent their proposed Class by including all women employed at Google.

Judge Wiss did give the plaintiffs the option to amend their complaint, however, and an attorney for the plaintiffs said that is exactly what they will do in a statement.

Google argued for dismissal, saying that a pay disparity in the data is not the whole story. The company said there could be other reasons for the difference in pay. The plaintiffs’ allegation that Google violated the Equal Pay Act cannot be based solely on a difference in pay, Google argued.

A spokesperson for Google said that the company’s hiring process protects against pay discrimination in a statement.

“Job levels and promotions are determined through rigorous hiring and promotion committees, and must pass multiple levels of review, including checks to make sure there is no gender bias in these decisions,” said Google’s statement. “If we ever see individual discrepancies or problems, we work to fix them, because Google has always sought to be a great employer for every one of our employees.”

Google has joined the ranks of other major tech companies facing claims of discrimination. Oracle has been sued by the Department of Labor as well over allegations it discriminated against women and minorities. Microsoft and Twitter have also been hit with lawsuits over gender discrimination.

The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys James M. Finberg, Eve H. Cervantez and Corinne F. Johnson of Altshuler Berzon LLP, and by Kelly M. Dermody, Anne B. Shaver and Michelle Lamy of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP.

The Google Gender Discrimination Class Action Lawsuit is Ellis, et al. v. Google Inc., Case No. CGC-17-561299, in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of San Francisco.

UPDATE: On March 26, 2018, a California state judge has rejected a bid by Google Inc. to shut down claims in a class action lawsuit accusing the company of gender-based discrimination, finding the plaintiffs sufficiently alleged a common hiring practice that affected the thousands of putative Class Members they seek to represent.