Just days after the internationally celebrated Equal Pay Day, is being accused of unfair and unequal payroll practices across its workforce.
The allegations are part of an ongoing investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor, collecting evidence that the search mogul has “systematic compensation disparities,” according to the Guardian. The allegations materialized as part of a lawsuit filed by the Labor Department in January, where it was asking for salary data and documentation “as part of a routine compliance evaluation.”
“The investigation is not complete, but at this point the department has received compelling evidence of very significant discrimination against women in the most common positions at Google headquarters,” Janet Herold, the Labor Department’s regional solicitor, told the Guardian. “The government’s analysis at this point indicates that discrimination against women in Google is quite extreme, even in this industry.”
Google has fully repudiated the allegations, reporting Tuesday that it had eliminated gender and race pay gaps.
Let’s make every day #EqualPayDay. All employers can take steps to eliminate the gender and race pay gaps, today → https://t.co/KTuGTJMV16 pic.twitter.com/rBciSK21uF
— Google (@Google) April 4, 2017
The Labor Department has been successfully gathering salary information from Google since late 2015. However, once Google denied the request to provide compensation data and detailed profiles of employees, it became concerned.
One of Google’s attorneys, Lisa Barnett Sween, testified in opening remarks that the requests were irrelevant to the compliance review, according to the Guardian. She further stated that the data requests were in violation of the company’s Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches.
Herold informed the Guardian that the Labor Department is still seeking further information to explore the issue. The department is entitled to all the information because Google is a federal contractor.
H/T the Guardian