Google will pay $11 million to settle the claims of 227 people who say they were unfairly denied jobs because of their age, according to Friday court filings. The settlement must still be approved by the judge in the case.
The original lead plaintiff in the case, first filed in 2015, was a 60-something man named Robert Heath who says he was deemed a “great candidate” by a Google recruiter. The lawsuit said that in 2013, the median age of Google employees was 29, whereas the typical computer programmer in the US is over 40, according to several different measures.
While Heath settled his claim with Google in December, a class-action lawsuit against the company continued with a new lead plaintiff, Cheryl Fillekes. According to Fillekes, she interviewed for a job with Google on four separate occasions but was never offered a position. During one interview, she claims she was told to submit a new resume with the dates of her college graduation so interviewers could see how old she was.
Assuming the settlement goes forward, $2.75 million of the $11 million payout will end up in the coffers of the lawyers representing the class. About $35,000 will go to each plaintiff involved in the suit, with an additional $10,000 going to Fillekes as the lead plaintiff. Google isn’t the first tech firm to face age discrimination complaints. Intel, Oracle and Facebook have all been accused of similar behavior.
