Financial Burden of Anti-Black Bias: Insights from Google's $50 Million Lawsuit
Google has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit brought forth by Black employees, who claimed racial bias and discrimination at the tech giant. The lawsuit, led by plaintiff April Curley, alleged that Google kept Black employees in lower-level roles, paid them less, and hindered their career advancement. The tech company denied any wrongdoing, asserting compliance with all applicable laws.
Curley, a Black woman, was employed by Google to work on outreach to historically Black colleges and universities. Throughout her six-year tenure, she claimed that Google discouraged her professional growth, labeled her as an "angry" Black woman, and dismissed her after she began investigating racial bias within the company.
The lawsuit's complaint further alleged that managers at Google disparaged Black employees and subjected them to hostile comments. It was also claimed that Google kept Curley in a lower-tier position based on her background and experience, and did not acknowledge her excellent qualifications and achievements with promotions or merit pay increases. Furthermore, the complaint asserted that Google was reluctant to hire Black talent, subjecting them to more demanding hiring processes compared to their peers.
In 2021, Google reached a settlement of $3.8 million with 5,500 employees and applicants in California and Washington state, following accusations of pay discrimination. Discrimination against female employees in engineering positions and Asian female applicants for software engineering positions was identified in this case.
To prevent similar occurrences in the future, experts suggest that companies should conduct regular pay audits, implement more objective workplace processes, and offer ongoing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) education to employees. Companies must understand that racial bias can manifest in stereotypes, such as the angry Black woman stereotype, and employees should be equipped with the knowledge to recognize and combat these biases.
Google, along with other organizations, must address anti-blackness in the workplace head-on. Employers should encourage self-awareness, establish fair hiring and promotion processes, and provide safe reporting mechanisms for employees to address bias and discrimination. Employees experiencing racial discrimination should document any incidents, seek support from internal or external resources, and familiarize themselves with employment and anti-discrimination laws.
- To combat systemic racism and racial bias in the workplace, Google should implement diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) education, promote objective workplace processes, and regularly conduct pay audits to prevent discrimination against Black employees and other marginalized groups, such as Asian female applicants for software engineering positions.
- In addition to addressing systemic bias, Google can also work on dismantling stereotypes like the angry Black woman stereotype within its organization, fostering a more inclusive corporate culture that values and cultivates talents from all backgrounds, and acknowledges achievements and qualifications fairly in lifestyle, technology, education-and-self-development, and sports aspects of the company.
