"Google CEO tells employees \u2018we are not going back in time\u2019 after sexual misconduct settlement"

" \n Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai sent a stern warning to all employees Friday, pointing them to a new settlement between the company and shareholders who alleged it did not respond appropriately to claims of sexual misconduct and harassment. \n \n\n \n \u201cI hope these commitments will serve as a strong signal to all of you that we are not going back in time,\u201d Pichai said in a brief memo to employees, which CNBC viewed. \n \n\n \n The settlement includes a $310 million commitment to fund a council to oversee diversity and equality issues, as well as sweeping changes to policies that includes eliminating mandatory arbitration, guardrails on payouts for alleged harassers, and limits on the company\u2019s use of non-disclosure agreements for employees involved in cases. \n \n\n \n The memo shows Pichai striking a harsher tone than that of the company\u2019s Friday\u00a0 blog post , which outlined five of the changes and framed them as a result of Google\u2019s own internal efforts. \n \n\n \n It also comes as Pichai, whose executive team initially approved of the payouts of executives in question like Andy Rubin, has been trying to\u00a0 reshape \u00a0some aspects of the company\u2019s culture since he took\u00a0 the helm \u00a0of Alphabet last December.\u00a0 \n \n\n \n \u201cIt\u2019s very important to me that we hold ourselves to the highest possible standard as a workplace on issues of misconduct, and provide care and support to people who report it,\u201d Pichai stated in Friday\u2019s email. \u201cI\u2019ve been working closely with our teams and our board to ensure that we are doing this.\u201d \n \n\n \n In 2019, shareholders\u00a0 filed a lawsuit \u00a0against Alphabet\u2019s board of directors for allegedly shielding senior execs from accusations of sexual misconduct, claiming a breach of fiduciary duty, abuse of control, unjust enrichment and waste of corporate assets.\u00a0 \n \n\n \n CNBC later\u00a0 reported \u00a0the board had formed an independent subcommittee and hired a law firm to investigate how executives handled claims of sexual harassment and other misconduct by chief legal officer David Drummond and other execs. \n \n\n \n In the year that followed, several executives named in the lawsuit, including Drummond and co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, retired from their formal executive roles at the company. \n \n\n \n \u201cI\u2019m personally dedicated to doing the hard work ahead and building on the progress we\u2019ve been making together to build a better Google for everyone,\u201d Pichai\u2019s note closed. \n "

"Google CEO tells employees \u2018we are not going back in time\u2019 after sexual misconduct settlement"

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