A class action lawsuit filed against Google alleging pay discrimination based on gender will move forward after a ruling by California Superior Court Judge Mary E. Wiss.
The original lawsuit was dismissed in December after a judge ruled the plaintiffs defined the classes of workers affected by the policy too generally. The plaintiffs then filed a revised lawsuit in January, adding Heidi Lamar as a plaintiff, a former teacher at the Google Children Center in Palo Alto, California. Under the revised lawsuit, the affected workers are named as being engineers, managers, sales and early childhood educators. The plaintiffs also claim Google has a history of asking improper questions about past salaries and hiring women to lower level jobs that have lower salaries.
For its part, Google objected to the class action designation of the case as it relates to “Engineer Covered Positions” and “Program Manager Covered Positions,” and said the plaintiffs failed to allege any specific violations of laws.
Judge Wiss disagreed with Google’s argument, saying it was enough that the plaintiffs alleged a pattern or practice of gender discrimination across all covered positions at the company.
Time to act when aware of discrimination in the workplace
If you become aware of any sort of discrimination in the workplace, including wage discrimination based on membership of a protected class such as gender, race, sexuality, religion or disability, you have options to speak up. There are federal whistleblower protections in place that guard you from retaliation if you make your findings known through the proper channels.
For more information about how to proceed if you discover discrimination in your workplace, contact a trusted Dallas whistleblower attorney at Kardell Law Group.
