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Google Pledges To Overhaul Its Sexual Harassment Policy After Global Protests (theguardian.com)

In an email to staff on Thursday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the company would overhaul its sexual harassment policies, "meeting some of the demands of employees who organized historic walkouts across the globe," the Guardian reports. "Pichai said Google would end forced arbitration of sexual miconduct claims, revamp its investigations process, share data on harassment claims and outcomes, and provide new support systems for people who come forward. From the report: Some critics, however, said the commitments were inadequate, failed to address pay disparities, and ignored demands to improve the rights of temporary employees and contractors. Pichai said Google would now make arbitration "optional for individual sexual harassment and sexual assault claims," but noted that employees could still choose to keep their claims confidential. [...] Pichai also said Google would disclose trends about investigations and disciplinary actions and would create "one dedicated site" that included "live support" for people with complaints. Google would now also offer "extra care and resources" to employees, including counseling and "career support" and a "support person," the CEO added.

18 of 295 comments (clear)

  1. Why is this something for companies to solve? by gerald.edward.butler · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If someone commits a crime against you, call the police and charge them with a crime; otherwise, shut the fuck up.

    1. Re:Why is this something for companies to solve? by aardvarkjoe · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Because "innocent until proven guilty" doesn't satisfy the mob.

      --

      How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
    2. Re:Why is this something for companies to solve? by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You know, lots of things can occur outside the bounds of decent and proper behavior at a workplace which don't happen to be a crime.

      --
      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
    3. Re:Why is this something for companies to solve? by gerald.edward.butler · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes. Then why are they trying to make it a "crime" in the workplace. Either it's a crime or it isn't. I'm offended every damn day by the shit-hole this country is becoming at the hands of professional victimization industry. Fuck all of you. It's time to take back the agenda. No FUCK YOU! Your feelings don't mean shit to me! Do your fucking job and let me do my job and shut the fuck up.

      It's time for people to stand up and say enough is enough. We're stopping you. You shall not go no further. Fuck your goddamn victimhood. Stop being such a fucking piece of shit always demanding everyone else suffer for your inability to assert yourself and stand up for yourself. You are thieves who only seek to steal power that you haven't earned. Fuck you!

    4. Re:Why is this something for companies to solve? by rtb61 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Google deserves every little bit of it. They wanted to play the deep state and shadow government, divide and conquer, SJW bullshit activist and mass censor game and it is turning right around and biting them on the ass, hard, funny and fuck. As you sew, so shall you reap and they are being reaped hard, right up the economic ass and it is going to get worse, the SJW freaks at Google are empowered now. We all shall mock and laugh and don't the shit heads at Alphabet deserve it, corrupt propagandistic shadow government asshats.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    5. Re:Why is this something for companies to solve? by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes. Then why are they trying to make it a "crime" in the workplace. Either it's a crime or it isn't.

      I'm sorry you are such a snowflake when it comes to following the rules but these are private businesses and they make their own rules. If you don't like it then you can make your own business where anything goes. You may find this hard to believe but society frowns upon such things.

      Frankly, I don't know anyone who want's to go to work and deal with people like you who say shit like...

      And that's only a few of the most recent things you have written.

      --
      Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    6. Re:Why is this something for companies to solve? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Or maybe because HR or your boss quietly asking that you please stop doing X is better for everyone involved than launching an immediate forensic investigation and hauling you into court to defend against a criminal conviction.

      And in any case, it's often not a crime, it's a civil employment issue.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    7. Re:Why is this something for companies to solve? by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Works just the other way around, too. Do I want to work in an environment where I have to wonder and worry what I can or cannot say, no matter how innocent, because some self proclaimed Cardinal Richelieu made it his or her mission to collect 6 lines from everyone to hang them for?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    8. Re:Why is this something for companies to solve? by squiggleslash · · Score: 3, Insightful

      What states do you think classify sexual harassment as a crime?

      One thing I've noticed about many anti-feminists is that they tend to conflate three or four different things, I don't know if it's malicious or reflects genuine confusion, but they tend to assume rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment to be all the same thing, often adding in hostile workplaces and so on. While you can argue, I guess, that rape is an example of all of the above, it's not the same in the other direction: groping someone is not rape. Wolf whistling is not sexual assault. Ignoring someone's ideas, or constantly unfairly belittling them, and spreading unsavory rumors about them is not (necessarily) sexual harassment.

      Sexual assault and rape very definitely are criminal acts in most of the Western world. Sexual harassment? For the most part, no, it can rise to being a civil matter in certain contexts, such as employment, as it's usually under the umbrella of sexual discrimination. Criminal? A very small number of countries have sanctions for some specific types of harassment, such as public catcalling, but most jurisdictions have no laws at all in place.

      So, I don't know if that helps, but if you are under the serious impression that sexual harassment is a crime in most places, well, it isn't. It probably shouldn't be on the grounds that most "Be a decent person" principles shouldn't need to be enshrined in criminal law so I doubt there'll be a movement to change that any time soon.

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      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    9. Re:Why is this something for companies to solve? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Google had to get involved because a relationship between a superior and their subordinate is always a problem. At the very least the superior should excuse themselves and move to a position where they are no influence over the subordinate, and that didn't happen.

      Otherwise it presents two problems. Firstly other employees may feel that the subordinate is getting unfair treatment. Even if a promotion is deserved, there will be suspicion that it was influenced by the relationship. Secondly if the relationship breaks down it could create an extremely awkward situation, and makes it hard for the company to avoid accusations of a hostile environment if the superior later needs to give a bad review or discipline the subordinate.

      For that reason many companies have an explicit policy on this, requiring people to declare relationships with subordinates and be moved to resolve the issue. In the case of C level execs moving is often impossible so if they want to pursue it they have to resign.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  2. SJW eat their own by sinij · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Let this be a lesson to any organization that tries to embrace identity politics. SJW eat their own and if you are with them, you are just as likely to be the next meal.

    1. Re: SJW eat their own by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Welcome to America's Cultural Revolution where ideological purity is a moving target. The American Inquisition would work well here as well.

  3. It won't work by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Google is trying to appease the SJW mob. This never works. It just energizes them and makes them sure to make even more extreme demands of the future. We've seen this again and again.

    You know what we've seen works? Ignoring them. They get sullen and bitter and move on to the next cause. Nothing worse than throwing a protest and nobody cares. The opposite of SJW hate is not love. The opposite is indifference.

    --
    Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    1. Re:It won't work by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      This. Never give in to SJWs, they just demand more and more.
      After all, if they admitted that they had achieved their goals they would have to stop being SJWs, and they wouldn't get to act superior to everyone, which is what they really want.

  4. Problem isn't the policies by Solandri · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If any line employment had done the same things, they would've been fired immediately sent packing, with a note added to their HR record to deny them severance and unemployment. But a high-level executive does it, and the company tries to cover it up, and when they can't anymore the person is let go with a $90 million golden parachute.

    The problem isn't the policies. It's the uneven application of the policies. It's not limited to sexual harassment either. High-level execs regularly seem to be let go with a golden parachute following a myriad of things (fraud, embezzlement, etc) that would sink the career of a regular employee.* Revamping the policies won't make the slightest difference if they're still not applied evenly.

    * This makes me suspect we need a law saying being let go for unethical behavior automatically nullifies any severance terms you've negotiated in your employment contract.

  5. No one laughs at Mike Pence anymore by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Never be alone with or have a one-on-one conversation with any woman who is not your wife. Don't even look at them, lest you be accused of "eye rape". Be the most boring man in the world and they'll leave you alone. Do all your socializing and flirting with women who don't even know what industry you work in. (No big loss -- an a Slashdot reader, your job title is probably something women would dismiss as "loser nerd")

    If you're a key person, e.g. the guy who codes the search algos or the guy who invented Android, you have less to worry about. You'll either get a huge severance check or start a new company that eats Google's lunch.

  6. Take responsibility by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    When an foolish man gets punched in the face, nobody thinks twice about "He was asking for it".

    Women need to grow a pair and accept that responsibility/agency comes hand-in-hand with feminine privileges (e.g., sexual allure).

  7. Re:Seriously by Opportunist · · Score: 1, Insightful

    What part of "Look but don't touch without permission" do you fail to understand?

    The part where looking is today already rape.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.