Google board sued for $90 million payout to Andy Rubin amid sexual abuse probe
"While at Google, Rubin is also alleged to have engaged in human sex trafficking -- paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to women to be, in Rubin's own words, 'owned' by him."
The Board of Directors of Alphabet Inc., parent company of Google, has been sued by shareholders for okaying that $90 million exit payment to Andy Rubin, the Android mobile software superstar developer, while actively covering up abuse committed by him and other executives.
Rubin was credibly accused of violently sexually abusing a Google colleague *before* the board greenlit that $90 million exit package, which sure makes it smell a lot like very expensive hush money for a very bad thing.
From Bloomberg:
The investors claimed the board failed in its duties by allowing harassment to occur, approving big payouts and keeping the details private. The complaint targeted the company's top executives and committee members, including co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, venture capitalist John Doerr, investor Ram Shriram and Alphabet Chief Legal Officer David Drummond, among others.
"Rubin was allowed to quietly resign by defendants Larry Page and Sergey Brin after an internal investigation found the allegations of sexual harassment by Rubin to be credible," according to one complaint filed Thursday in California state court. "While at Google, Rubin is also alleged to have engaged in human sex trafficking -- paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to women to be, in Rubin's own words, 'owned' by him."
Another suit, filed on behalf of the Northern California Pipe Trades Pension Plan and Teamsters Local 272 Labor Management Pension Fund, made similar claims.
Rubin created Android, now the world's most popular operating system, and ran the powerful mobile division at Google for years before leaving the company in 2014. In October, The New York Times reported that Google executives approved a four-year, $90 million pay package for Rubin after an employee accused the executive of sexual harassment.
Some of the people who work at Google who organized the 2018 walkout released a statement today, saying they support the shareholder lawsuits.
"We have all the evidence we need that Google's leadership does not have our best interests at heart," they said.