Google will pay $118 million and open up some practices to independent review to settle a class-action lawsuit that accused the company of consistently underpaying women, Fortune reported June 13.
The lawsuit covers more than 15,000 female employees who worked at the company since 2013. Some of the women reported being placed on a lower "tier" of work, meant for new graduates despite years of experience. This also meant lower salaries and bonuses. Others said that their path to promotion at the company was made more difficult by not being given competitive or challenging assignments.
As part of the agreement, Google will pay out $118 million and will allow third parties to look into how it places new hires into tiers.
"While we strongly believe in the equity of our policies and practices, after nearly five years of litigation, both sides agreed that the resolution of the matter, without any admission or findings, was in the best interest of everyone," a spokesperson for Google told Fortune.