Shareholders sue Google for handling sexual misconduct claims

A number of shareholders of Alphabet, the parent company of Google, have filed a lawsuit. They want action to be taken because of claims of inadmissible behavior by Google top executives, which would then not have been handled properly.

The Verge reports this on the basis of documents submitted to a court. One of the charges was filed by Alphabet shareholder James Martin, but charges have also been filed by two pension funds. It’s a result of sexual misconduct claims alleged by some of Google’s top executives; these people, including Android founder Andy Rubin, would have been sent away with a hefty severance payment.

One of the demands in the indictment is that the top executives who have received severance pay pay it back. In addition, they want three new people on the board of Alphabet, and they want to limit the power of the board. They also want to prevent non-disclosure agreements being concluded with victims, as a result of which such matters can be kept hidden.

Reports of sexual misconduct within Google came out late last year, among other things, prompting about 20,000 Google employees to step out of their offices to protest the way executives have handled things. However, the accused top executives deny that they did anything wrong.