A jury found Google guilty of sexual discrimination and awarded Google ex-executive Ulku Rowe $1.1 million. In Rowe's lawsuit, she alleged that the company gave higher pay to less-experienced male cohorts and that Google later denied her promotions in retaliation for her complaints. The jury agreed, resulting in Google now owing Rowe for both punitive damages and pain and suffering. However, the jury found that while Google treated Rowe "differently than other employees because of her gender," Rowe did not prove that Google violated the law by paying her less than two of her male counterparts. It was a partial win for both sides.
Google later said that it disagreed with the jury's finding that Rowe was discriminated against because of her gender or that she was retaliated against for raising concerns about her pay, level, and gender. Google reiterated that it prohibits retaliation in the workplace and has a very clear, published policy to that effect. Google investigated Rowe's concerns when she raised them and found there was no discrimination or retaliation.
Rowe said that her time at Google was "overshadowed by what I believe are unfair compensation and treatment due to my gender." She alleged that, after the company passed her over for a promotion to vice president that was given to a man who had neither applied nor was qualified, and that, after she filed her lawsuit, the company again denied her another similar promotion.
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