Google employees around the globe are taking part in a mass walkout on Thursday to protest the company’s protection of a former executive who has been accused of sexual misconduct.
The Google protest, which has been dubbed the ‘Walkout For Real Change,’ is scheduled for Thursday at 11.10am local time across the globe, one week after sexual assault allegations against creator of its Android software, Andy Rubin, were first reported by the New York Times.
Rubin denied the allegations in a tweet, saying the article contained ‘numerous inaccuracies’ and ‘wild exaggerations’.
But Rubin is believed to have received a considerable exit package in 2014, valued at approximately $90 million, and was also loaned $14 million in 2012 to buy a seaside villa in Japan.
People briefed on the transaction said the loan was offered at an interest rate of less than one percent.
The demonstration on Thursday is the latest expression of a year-long backlash against exploitation of subordinates across all industries.
Thursday’s workout could signal that a significant number of the 94,000 employees working for Google and its corporate parent Alphabet Inc. remained unconvinced the company is doing enough to adhere to Alphabet’s own mantra, urging all employees to ‘do the right thing.’