Google has settled with Black employees who alleged systemic racial disparities in hiring, pay, and advancement in a lawsuit filed in 2022. April Curley, a former Google employee, had sued the tech giant for racial discrimination, saying it engages in a "pattern and practice" of unfair treatment for its Black workers, per the AP. The suit claimed the company steered them into lower-level and lower-paid jobs and subjected them to a hostile work environment if they speak out. Other former Google workers also joined the suit, which later received class action status.
The settlement was announced in May 2025 and granted final approval this week. Google said when the settlement was reached that it strongly disagrees with the allegations that it treated anyone improperly and remains "committed to paying, hiring, and leveling all employees consistently." The suit echoed years of complaints from Black employees at the company. That includes prominent AI scholar Timnit Gebru, who said she was pushed out in 2020 after a dispute over a research paper examining the societal dangers of an emerging branch of artificial intelligence.
The 2022 lawsuit claimed that Google viewed Black job candidates "through harmful racial stereotypes" and claimed that hiring managers deemed Black candidates "not 'Googly' enough, a plain dog whistle for race discrimination." In addition, per the suit, interviewers "hazed" and undermined Black candidates and hired Black candidates into lower-paying and lower-level roles with less advancement potential based on their race and racial stereotypes.
The settlement, which doesn't constitute admission of liability by Google, also includes a commitment to pay equity analyses, pay transparency measures, and limits on mandatory arbitration for employment-related disputes through at least August 2026, according to civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represented the plaintiffs. "This case is about accountability, plain and simple," Crump said in a statement.
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