Four women suing Google for pay discrimination just had their lawsuit upgraded to a $600m class action

A lawsuit spearheaded by four female Google ex-employees claiming the ad giant pays men higher wages for doing the same job was granted class-action status this week.

On Thursday, Judge Andrew Cheng of the Superior Court of California in San Francisco, said [PDF] the plaintiffs – Kelly Ellis, Holly Pease, Kelli Wisuri, and Heidi Lamar – can not only proceed against Google but also can represent more than 10,800 women who may have also been unfairly paid less than their male colleagues at the internet titan.

Their complaint was filed in 2017, seeking damages from Google that could now balloon to $600m given its status. The women argued Google had violated the California Equal Pay Act, and failed to pay them their full wages after they quit or were dismissed.

“Google has discriminated and continues to discriminate against its female employees by paying female employees less than male employees with similar skills, experience, and duties; by assigning and keeping women in job ladders and levels with lower compensation ceilings and advancement opportunities than those to which men with similar skills, experience, and duties are assigned and kept; and by promoting fewer women and promoting women more slowly than it has promoted similarly-qualified men,” their paperwork stated.

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