NOT OKAY

Google Shareholder Sues Over Alleged Misconduct Cover-Up

The shareholder claims that the company’s board breached its fiduciary duty by covering up misconduct and giving alleged harassers big payouts.

A Google shareholder filed a lawsuit against the tech titan’s board and senior management Thursday, alleging that the company breached its fiduciary duty to investors by covering up sexual misconduct at the company and giving alleged harassers huge payouts. The Washington Post reports that the suit, which also alleges unjust enrichment, abuse of power, and corporate waste, comes as a response to the revelation that Google gave Android creator Andy Rubin a $90 million exit package in 2014 despite the fact that he was being forced to leave the company over allegations of sexual misconduct. Rubin has denied the charges, which came to light this year in a report from The New York Times and incited a walk-out of Google employees in November 2018. The lawsuit specifically alleges that venture capitalists John Doerr and Ram Shriram green lighted the nearly $100 million payment even though they were aware of the allegations at the time. “If the board of directors is in charge, they were supposed to ‘do the right thing,’ and in this case they’ve done anything but the right thing,” former City Attorney of San Francisco Louise Renn told the Post.

GOOGLE’S LITTLE SECRETS

Google Protected Android Creator Accused of Misconduct: NYT