Former employees sue Google for gender discrimination

Three former female Google employees accused the internet search company of gender discrimination in a class action lawsuit filed Thursday.

Women in Google’s ranks face systemic discrimination when it comes to wages and promotions, according to the complaint.

“Google has discriminated and continues to discriminate against its female employees by paying female employees less than male employees with similar skills, experience, and duties; by assigning and keeping women in job ladders and levels with lower compensation ceilings and advancement opportunities than those to which men with similar skills, experience, and duties are assigned and kept; and by promoting fewer women and promoting women more slowly than it has promoted similarly-qualified men,” reads the lawsuit filed in San Francisco Superior Court.

{mosads}“The net result of this systemic discrimination is that Google pays women less than men for comparable work.”

Google spokeswoman Gina Scigliano said the company goes to great lengths to ensure an equitable workplace.

“In relation to this particular lawsuit, we’ll review it in detail, but we disagree with the central allegations,” Scigliano said in a statement. “Job levels and promotions are determined through rigorous hiring and promotion committees, and must pass multiple levels of review, including checks to make sure there is no gender bias in these decisions.  And we have extensive systems in place to ensure that we pay fairly.”

The three women claim that they were paid less and kept at lower job levels than their male colleagues.

Google has denied that there is a pay gap between its male and female employees, which is the subject of a complaint filed against the internet giant by the Department of Labor.

The company also faced public scrutiny last month when it fired James Damore, a programmer who had written a divisive internal memo criticizing Google’s efforts to hire more women and minorities. Damore had argued that hiring disparities were largely due to biological differences between genders and not sexism.