Google says fired 48 for sexual harassment over two years

Google said Thursday it fired 48 employees in the past two years, including 13 senior executives, as a result of sexual harassment allegations, citing "an increasingly hard line" on inappropriate conduct.

The US tech giant issued the statement from chief executive Sundar Pichai in response to a New York Times report that one senior Google employee, Android creator Andy Rubin, received an exit package worth USD 90 million as he faced allegations of misconduct, and that Google had covered up other claims of sexual harassment.

Asked by AFP and other media for its reaction, Google released an email sent to employees from Pichai stating that 48 people had been terminated for sexual harassment in the past two years, including 13 who were senior managers and above and that none received "an exit package."
"We are dead serious about making sure we provide a safe and inclusive workplace," he said. "We want to assure you that we review every single complaint about sexual harassment or inappropriate conduct, we investigate and we take action."