Case: Ellis v. Google

This is a case about pay discrimination on the basis of sex by Google. This action was filed on September 14, 2017, in the Superior Court of California for the County of San Francisco. The plaintiffs were individual women employed by the defendant, Google, in California. Represented by Altshuler Berzon and Lieff Cabraser, they sought class action status on behalf of all women employed by Google. The case was designated as complex litigation and was assigned to Judge Andrew Y.S. Cheng. 

The plaintiffs alleged that the defendant discriminated against its female employees by systematically paying them lower compensation than they paid to male employees who did substantially similar work under similar working conditions and did so by assigning and keeping women in job levels and ladders with lower compensation ceilings and advancement opportunities than men with similar experience. The plaintiffs argued that these actions violated state labor laws. The complaint alleged that a 2015 United States Department of Labor Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs compliance review showed that the defendant had six to seven standard deviations between pay for men and women, which might occur by random chance in 1 out of 100 million instances. As a result, the plaintiffs requested declaratory and injunctive relief as well as monetary damages. 

On May 27, 2021, Judge Andrew Y.S. Cheng granted the plaintiffs’ motion for class action status. The class included all women employed by the defendant in a position covered by the California Equal Pay Act from September 2013 through the date of trial in this case. On June 14, 2022, the plaintiffs filed their Second Amended Complaint, adding more claims of unlawful discrimination on the basis of sex under relevant California state law. 

On June 10, 2022, the parties filed a settlement agreement and proposed order. That agreement was preliminarily approved by the court on July 25, 2022. The court granted final approval of the class settlement three months later, on October 25, 2022. The total settlement amount was $118 million dollars, which included payment for all settlement claims to class members, the defendant’s portion of payroll taxes applicable to settlement payments designated as wages, any class representative service payments, and the class counsel’s attorneys’ fees and expenses. 

Under the agreement, each class member was eligible to receive a portion of the settlement fund that varied with respect to their employment status with the defendant. Any employee hired after December 31, 2021, was entitled to a flat sum of $250.00 only. Any person hired before that date would be allocated a minimum of $500.00. After these payments were allocated, the remaining settlement fund was to be apportioned so that 40% was allocated to those whose rights were violated under the Equal Pay Act, and 60% was allocated to those whose rights were violated under the Fair Employment and Housing Act. The settlement agreement established the process by which individual sums would be calculated. 

The settlement also included provisions regarding injunctive relief. Specifically, Google agreed to hire an independent consultant who would review Google's hiring and pay processes, consider that consultant's recommendations in good faith, and further hire an external monitor to review those recommendations as well.

Judge Cheng also granted the plaintiffs’ request for attorney’s fees in the amount of $29,5000,000 and expenses in the amount of $1,061,350.65. This figure was calculated based on the results of the settlement agreement in the case, the risks and quality of work undertaken by the class counsel, and the range of awards made in similar cases. There was no objection by class members or the defendant. 

As of December 19, 2022, the settlement distribution and management of this case is ongoing.