Google Walkout Symptom Of Need For Cultural Shift

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA -- Given a worldwide walkout among mostly women, a global company that transformed the way we communicate may need to rethink how it tells its employees their sexual harassment and abuse claims matter, at least one expert contends.

Organizer Celie O'Neil-Hart yelled, "Time's Up in Tech!" as she read a list of demands for Google executives, including a better reporting process for sexual abuse, equal opportunities for all demographics, a public sexual assault transparency report and an end to forced arbitration, which forces employees to waive their right to sue.

Do the claims matter enough for Google that it refrains from paying off the upper echelons of management who allegedly have been tagged as abusers?

That's the prevailing question pondered by San Jose State University professor Meghna Virick, an associate dean in the Lucas College of Business who specializes in business management with a discipline in human resources. The campus neighbors the Silicon Valley company in Mountain View.

"Historically what companies have done anytime sexual abuse cases have come up is to resolve them relying on forced arbitration," Virick said. This means bringing on a third party.

The pros of this practice are obvious. The decision is made behind closed doors "which is what they want because they worry about the optics," she said of the "widespread practice" in the business world.

But things are changing. News gets out as it did when the New York Times unveiled a thorough investigation that highlighted sexual harassment allegations and the subsequent, golden-parachute ousters of the director of Google X Richard DeVaul this week and the company's Android developer Andy Rubin a few years ago.

Virick singled out the hush-hush departure of Rubin with a $90 million severance package because he was considered a star performer.

"It's difficult to lose a superstar," she said, further asking: "What if he went to the competition?"

This business reality stemming from multi-page contracts that executives sign in the competition-on-steroids world of high tech may be considered detrimental to a company's health, or worse yet, its overall future.

"This was okay prior to the #MeToo Movement," Virick said of a social media campaign that brought down a major movie mogul among other powerful men.

But times, they are a changin'.

The #MeToo Movement wants to put a dent in that way of doing business, anchored by a good ole boys club that devalues and discredits the accuser.

It's like the movement wanting to disrupt the old notion of two gun slingers threatening to confront one another in the street. One shows up to do battle, and the other sits in the saloon waiving off accusations like they didn't happen or it doesn't matter.

"What is so tragic is that what is more powerful than words is action. I think employees are looking for something other than lip service from these tech giants," she said.

Google released a statement that implied it is listening to the complaints that led up to the walkout. It started in Asia and rolled with the time zones including the company's western headquarters in Mountain View.

"Earlier this week, we let Googlers know that we are aware of the activities planned for (Thursday) and that employees will have the support they need if they wish to participate. Employees have raised constructive ideas for how we can improve our policies and our processes going forward. We taking in all their feedback, so we can turn these ideas into action," Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai said.

The company, with its parent Alphabet, have already taken steps to calm the concerns in the last week, with Pchai and its founder Larry Page apologizing.

Meanwhile, in the city where the company bases its business, equality as a way of life is emphasized in its guiding principles labeled a "community for all."

Its Goal 1 is to "Promote Strategies to Protect Vulnerable Populations and Preserve the Socioeconomic and Cultural Diversity of the Community."

"It's very important to the city of Mountain View that every business is open, accepting and inclusionary," city spokeswoman Shonda Ranson said.

The city was fully aware of the walkout, commending the company for supporting its employees act of civil disobedience.

As Virick pointed, change is hard and can move slowly -- even in a fast-paced industry because the thing that changes is the culture. Therein lies the difference. The human component may be a harder challenge than product in a business where something as simple as answering the phone poses a problem.

Phone calls to management at the Mountain View and Cupertino chambers of commerce were unreturned.

--Image courtesy of the Dean's Office at San Jose State University; Bay City News, New York Times, CNN Business and the BBC contributed to this report.