Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Thursday sent an email to company employees admitting Google fired 48 people, including management, for sexual harassment in the last two years. The email, provided to Fox News by a Google spokesperson, stated Google is "dead serious about making sure we provide a safe and inclusive workplace." It was sent to all Google employees after The New York Times reported the company rewarded Android creator Andy Rubin a $90 million exit package after he was accused of sexual misconduct with an employee. GOOGLE REPORTEDLY PAID ANDROID CREATOR $90M AFTER SEX MISCONDUCT CLAIM Pichai said Google has made several changes in recent years that included firing the dozens of people for sexual harassment, "including 13 who were senior managers and above." None of those included in that number received an exit package from Google, he said. The email, also signed by Eileen Naughton, vice president of people operations, encouraged company employees to report harassment or "share any inappropriate behavior you experience or see," and noted that reports can be made anonymously. Pichai added that Google had updated its policy to ensure vice presidents and senior vice presidents "disclose any relationship with a co-worker regardless of reporting line or presence of conflict." "There are serious consequences for anyone who behaves inappropriately," the email concluded. Two company executives told the Times that Rubin had been having an affair with a Google employee who alleged he forced her into "performing oral sex in a hotel room in 2013." Google reportedly found the employee's accusation credible, and Google's CEO at the time, Larry Page, asked Rubin to resign. After his resignation, Google reportedly provided Rubin with a $90 million exit package to be paid out in monthly installments of roughly $2 million for four years.<doc-sep>NEW A vastly improved search engine helps you find the latest on companies, business leaders, and news more easily.<doc-sep>After a New York Times article published Thursday revealed that Google had paid $90 million to Andy Rubin, the creator of Android’s software, when he left the company in 2014 over allegations he forced an employee to perform sexual acts on him, the company’s CEO said in an email to employees that 48 people had been fired over the last two years for sexual misconduct. The details about Rubin’s exit were part of a Times article documenting multiple high-ranking Google executives facing accusations of sexual harassment and either being allowed to remain at the company or being paid millions of dollars when they resigned or were asked to leave. Advertisement In response, Google CEO Sundar Pichai sent an email to the company’s staff that read, in part, “We are dead serious about making sure we provide a safe and inclusive workplace. We want to assure you that we review every single complaint about sexual harassment or inappropriate conduct, we investigate and we take action.” Advertisement Advertisement He wrote that 13 senior employees were among the 48 who had been fired as a result of changes to how the company handles such misconduct. Pichai also noted that none of the fired individuals received an exit package. The company did not dispute any of the Times’ reporting in the email to its employees. In addition to Rubin, the Times reported that Amit Singhal, a former senior vice president who allegedly groped an employee at a party, received millions when he resigned. Both of these incidents occurred before 2017, however, so it’s possible that Google has stopped awarding exit packages to people who have been credibly accused of sexual misconduct. Google had no legal requirement to provide such packages in these cases. Google also failed to disclose the allegations as the reason why the executives departed at the time. In fact, the company reportedly went to great lengths to make Rubin’s departure seem amicable by releasing a public statement of thanks and investing in a venture firm that he founded shortly after leaving Google.<doc-sep>
Following a bombshell report by the New York Times detailing how Google shielded key male executives and even rewarded them following sexual-misconduct investigations, CEO Sundar Pichai sent a company-wide email saying Google terminated 48 employees for misconduct in the last two years. Of those, 13 were “senior managers and above” — and none got an exit package, according to Pichai. The memo, which was co-signed by Google HR chief Eileen Naughton, was first reported by CNBC. Earlier Thursday, the New York Times published a report that found Google protected and rewarded three high-ranking male execs who were accused of sexual misconduct. Those included Andy Rubin, the creator of Android, who received $90 million in severance after he was asked to resign over allegations he coerced an employee to perform oral sex on him. “We are dead serious about making sure we provide a safe and inclusive workplace. We want to assure you that we review every single complaint about sexual harassment or inappropriate conduct, we investigate and we take action,” Pichai and Naughton wrote. Google employees are able to confidentially and even anonymously report “any inappropriate behavior you experience or see,” according to the memo. “We support and respect those who have spoken out.” The execs added that Google has updated its policies to require all VPs and senior VPs to “disclose any relationship with a co-worker regardless of reporting line or presence of conflict.” Pichai was named CEO of Google in August 2015 with the formation of Alphabet, its parent holding company. He previously led product, engineering, and research for all of Google’s products and platforms.