On Thursday, Google CEO Sundar Pichari sent an email to employees stating that the Company had fired 48 employees for sexual harassment.
Pichari mentioned that out of the 48 employees who were fired, 13 were senior managers or above. In the email, he also mentioned that the firings took place over the last two years.
The memo, provided by an employee at Google to CNBC, claimed that Google is serious about providing a safe and inclusive workplace for all employees. Consequently, the company said it had updated its policies to ensure vice presidents and senior vice presidents “disclose any relationship with a co-worker regardless of reporting line or presence of conflict.”
Reporting sexual harassment
Pichari said new tools existed so employees can report inappropriate conducts or sexual harassment. Reports can be made anonymously as well, according to the email.
Vice president of people operations, Eileen Naughton, encouraged employees to report any inappropriate behavior they see or experience. Naughton also signed the email.
Pichari and Naughton concluded the email by stating that “there are serious consequences for anyone who behaves inappropriately.”
The memo
You can read the full email below:
Hi everyone,
Today’s story in the New York Times was difficult to read.
We are dead serious about making sure we provide a safe and inclusive workplace. We want to assure you that we review every single complaint about sexual harassment or inappropriate conduct, we investigate and we take action.
In recent years, we’ve made a number of changes, including taking an increasingly hard line on inappropriate conduct by people in positions of authority: in the last two years, 48 people have been terminated for sexual harassment, including 13 who were senior managers and above. None of these individuals received an exit package.
In 2015, we launched Respect@ and our annual Internal Investigations Report to provide transparency about these types of investigations at Google. Because we know that reporting harassment can be traumatic, we provide confidential channels to share any inappropriate behavior you experience or see. We support and respect those who have spoken out. You can find many ways to do this at go/saysomething. You can make a report anonymously if you wish.
We’ve also updated our policy to require all VPs and SVPs to disclose any relationship with a co-worker regardless of reporting line or presence of conflict.
We are committed to ensuring that Google is a workplace where you can feel safe to do your best work, and where there are serious consequences for anyone who behaves inappropriately.
Sundar and Eileen
