Google parent Alphabet Inc. pledged $310 million to expand diversity efforts and resolve shareholder litigation that alleged the company’s board to failed to prevent sexual harassment and hid misconduct by executives.
The settlement caps a controversy that shook the technology giant and reverberated across Silicon Valley. At the center of the lawsuit was a $90 million exit package for Google executive Andy Rubin, creator of the Android mobile operating system, who faced a sexual harassment investigation at the time.
“This is a landmark settlement,” said Louise Renne, an attorney representing the shareholders. Her law firm described the outcome as the “largest and most holistic settlement” in a shareholder case involving sexual misconduct charges since 21st Century Fox Inc. settled a harassment suit in 2017.