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Alphabet Settles Sexual Harassment Suit Brought by Shareholders

The settlement bars Alphabet from binding employees to confidential arbitration and NDAs.

Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube, agreed Friday to settle a lawsuit brought by shareholders over the company’s handling of sexual harassment. The settlement will bar Alphabet from obligating employees to participate in confidential arbitration, constrain its use of non-disclosure agreements, and commit $310 million to the creation of a diversity, inclusion, and equity advisory council. In recent years, employees who brought complaints of sexual harassment and retaliation against top Alphabet and Google brass found that the company either parted ways with the executives on good terms that included generous severance agreements or allowed them to keep their jobs.