Google denies Labor Department accusation of 'systemic compensation disparities against women'

A U.S. Department of Labor official on Friday accused Google of a widespread gender pay gap among its employees. "We found systemic compensation disparities against women pretty much across the entire workforce," said Janette Whipper, a Labor Department regional director, in court testimony.

Though the "investigation is not complete," added another Labor official, Janet Herold, the "government’s analysis at this point indicates that discrimination against women in Google is quite extreme, even in this industry." About a third of Google's 70,000 workers are women.

Google roundly rejected the allegations. "We vehemently disagree with Ms. Whipper's claim," the company said in an emailed statement to TechCrunch. "Every year, we do a comprehensive and robust analysis of pay across genders and we have found no gender pay gap. Other than making an unfounded statement which we heard for the first time in court, the DoL hasn't provided any data, or shared its methodology."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up