Google to pay $1 million penalty to engineer who sued it for gender bias

Google has been ordered by a New York jury to pay more than $1 million to a female executive who sued the company for gender discrimination and retaliation. Ulku Rowe, who works as a Google Cloud engineering director, claimed that Google hired her at a lower level and lower salary than men with similar qualifications and experience. She also alleged that Google denied her a promotion that went to a less qualified male colleague, and retaliated against her when she complained about the unfair treatment.

Rowe joined Google in 2017 with 23 years of experience in the tech industry. She said that Google placed her at a level that paid significantly less than what men were offered for comparable roles. The jury found that Google violated law by discriminating against Rowe based on her gender, and awarded her $1.15 million in damages. The jury also found that Google’s actions caused Rowe emotional distress and mental anguish.

This is the first case of gender discrimination that Google has faced since the 2019 walkout when about 20,000 Google employees protested the company’s handling of sexual harassment and bias complaints. While Google promised to improve its policies and practices on sexual misconduct, it has not addressed the issues of pay equity and career advancement for women and underrepresented groups.

Meanwhile, Google announced that it will join the ranks of top mobile makers who produce smartphones in India. At the Google for India event in New Delhi, Rick Osterloh, the head of Pixel devices at Google, said that India is a key market for Google’s Pixel phones. He said that Google will launch its ‘Made in India’ initiative with Pixel 8, which will be available in 2024. Google is the latest entrant to the smartphone manufacturing scene in India, where many leading brands such as Apple, and Samsung and some Chinese players like Xiaomi, Tecno and Oppo already have their production units.

Google revealed that it will collaborate with local and global makers to produce Pixel phones in India. However, Google has not yet disclosed the name of its Indian manufacturing partner. In addition to this, Google has announced its partnership with HP to manufacture Chromebooks in India.