Google Pledges To Overhaul Its Sexual Harassment Policy After Global Protests

In an email to staff on Thursday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the company would overhaul its sexual harassment policies, 'meeting some of the demands of employees who organized historic walkouts across the globe,' the Guardian reports. 'Pichai said Google would end forced arbitration of sexual miconduct claims, revamp its investigations process, share data on harassment claims and outcomes, and provide new support systems for people who come forward. From the report: Some critics, however, said the commitments were inadequate, failed to address pay disparities, and ignored demands to improve the rights of temporary employees and contractors. Pichai said Google would now make arbitration 'optional for individual sexual harassment and sexual assault claims,' but noted that employees could still choose to keep their claims confidential. Pichai also said Google would disclose trends about investigations and disciplinary actions and would create 'one dedicated site' that included 'live support' for people with complaints. Google would now also offer 'extra care and resources' to employees, including counseling and 'career support' and a 'support person,' the CEO added.

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