Work place sexual harassment: Google takes steps to calm outrage

Tech giants, Google, on Thursday said it is taking steps to changing its handling of complaints against sexual misconducts in the organization.

This is believed as a way to calm frayed nerves over widespread outrage over the complaints that led to worldwide walkouts by its workers last week.

“We recognize that we have not always gotten everything right in the past and we are sincerely sorry for that,” chief executive Sundar Pichai said in a message to employees on Thursday.

The company also outlined changes to its handling of sexual misconduct complaints.

“It’s clear we need to make some changes”, Pichai stated.

Arbitration of harassment claims will be optional instead of obligatory, according to Pichai, a move that could end anonymous settlements that fail to identify those accused of harassment.

“Google has never required confidentiality in the arbitration process and it still may be the best path for a number of reasons (e.g. personal privacy, predictability of process), but, we recognize that the choice should be up to you,” he said in the memo.

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Pichai also promised that Google will be more transparent with how concerns are handled, and provide better support and care to those who raise such issues with the company.

Pichai also said Google will provide “more granularity,” regarding sexual harassment investigations and their outcomes.

Google is also putting the onus on team leaders to tighten the tap on booze at company events, on or off campus, to curtail the potential for drunken misbehavior.

“Harassment is never acceptable and alcohol is never an excuse,” Google said in a released action statement.

“But, one of the most common factors among the harassment complaints made today at Google is that the perpetrator had been drinking.”

Some teams at the company have already instituted two-drink limits at events or use ticket systems, Google said.

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