California-based Google has faced several claims that it pays women less than men who are in similar positions. On Jan. 3, a lawsuit was filed in San Francisco Superior Court by a woman who used to work at Google’s child care facility as a preschool teacher. The complaint was added to a class action suit that was filed against the company in September 2017 that also includes those who have worked in sales and engineering positions.
According to the lawsuit, Google gives women jobs that don’t pay as much as those that are typically performed by men. Furthermore, women employees are placed in lower pay bands and are not promoted at the same rate as men according to the suit. Finally, the suit claims that Google knew about these issues or should have known about them, which makes its actions willful in nature.
The woman who filed the most recent suit claimed that she was paid $18.51 per hour compared to a male employee who was paid $21 per hour when they were hired. This was despite the fact that she had a master’s degree and more relevant job experience compared to the male employee who had neither. In a response to the claims made against the company, a representative from Google said that it disagreed with the allegations.
Employees who believe that they were the victims of wage discrimination may benefit from consulting with an attorney. Doing so may help them learn more about ways to hold an employer accountable for possible employment law violations. If a claim is successful, employees may be entitled to compensation for back pay or other damages. An attorney may establish that wage discrimination occurred by using publicly-available pay records or statements from the company itself.
