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“This case is about accountability, plain and simple,” said
civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represented the plaintiffs,
in a statement. “For far too long, Black employees in the tech
industry have faced barriers that limit opportunity. This
settlement is a significant step toward holding one of the
world’s most powerful companies accountable and making clear
that discriminatory practices cannot and will not be tolerated.”
The settlement was announced in May 2025 and granted final
approval this week. Google said when the settlement was reached
that it strongly disagrees with the allegations that it treated
anyone improperly and remains "committed to paying, hiring, and
leveling all employees consistently.”
The lawsuit, echoed years of complaints from Black employees at
the company. That includes prominent artificial intelligence
scholar Timnit Gebru, who said she was pushed out in 2020 after
a dispute over a research paper examining the societal dangers
of an emerging branch of artificial intelligence.
The 2022 lawsuit claimed that Mountain View, California-based
Google viewed Black job candidates “through harmful racial
stereotypes” and claimed that hiring managers deemed Black
candidates “not ‘Googly’ enough, a plain dog whistle for race
discrimination.”
In addition, according to the suit, interviewers “hazed” and
undermined Black candidates and hired Black candidates into
lower-paying and lower-level roles with less advancement
potential based on their race and racial stereotypes.
The settlement, which does not constitute admission of liability
by Google, also includes a commitment to pay equity analyses,
pay transparency measures, and limits on mandatory arbitration
for employment-related disputes through at least August 2026,
according to Crump.
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