The High Cost of Anti-Blackness: Lessons from Google's $50M Case

Forbes

24-05-2025

Google settled a $50 million lawsuit by Black employees who alleged racial bias at the company.
Recently, Google settled a $50 million lawsuit by Black employees who alleged racial bias at the company. The settlement included over 4,000 Google employees in California and New York, with plaintiffs making the case that Google kept Black employees in lower-level jobs, paid them less, lowered their performance ratings and prevented Black employees from advancement. The lead plaintiff, a Black woman named April Curley, alleged that Google hired her for outreach to historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). While at the company, Curley claimed that Google prevented her from advancing, labeled her as an 'angry' Black woman and then fired her after a six-year tenure, as she was developing a report on racial bias at the company.
In the class-action lawsuit filed by Curley and other Black employees, the complaint alleges that managers disparaged Black employees who were not 'Googley' enough, kept Black workers in lower-level jobs, paid them lower wages and subjected them to hostile comments. In addition, Curley claimed that Google kept her in a job that was not at a comparable seniority level based on her background and experience. Curley also alleged that Google didn't promote her or provide her with merit pay increases despite her 'stellar qualifications and performance.' She claimed that Google was reluctant to hire Black talent and subjected them to more rigorous hiring practices compared to their counterparts, asking Black candidates questions unrelated to the role they were applying for, to damage their interview evaluations.
This is not the first time Google has been accused of discrimination. In 2021, Google agreed to pay $3.8 million to 5,500 employees and applicants in California and Washington state due to pay discrimination. Pay disparities were identified for female employees in engineering positions, as well as Asian females applying for software engineering positions.
When there is more transparency and objectivity around workplace practices, this can lessen the ... More likelihood of employees leaning on their own personal biases to make workplace decisions.
There are several steps that Google should take to prevent these types of situations from happening in the future; the first is frequent pay audits. It is unclear how often Google and other organizations conduct pay audits, but this is a practice that should be done regularly to address and rectify pay disparities across different populations. In addition, to mitigate systemic inequities, organizations should implement more objective processes into the workplace. This means introducing scorecards and rubrics for different workplace practices including recruitment, interviews, hiring and selection, and for advancement and promotion processes. When there is more transparency and objectivity around workplace practices, this can lessen the likelihood of employees leaning on their own personal biases to make workplace decisions.
Despite the pervasive anti-DEI backlash, all companies must think about ways to implement frequent and ongoing education to ensure employees understand issues like racial bias and stereotyping, in order to mitigate workplace discrimination. Do employees, for example, understand how the angry Black woman stereotype shows up in the workplace? Do managers understand anti-blackness and how it can show up in decision-making? How do employees from marginalized communities internalize negative stereotypes about their own communities and how does this impact behaviors? Is everyone in the workplace aware of tone-policing and how it can manifest? Employees should be well-equipped with this knowledge and understanding beyond just a one-time workshop—education should be consistent and ongoing.
In the current climate, it's important and necessary to stay abreast of all DEI-related news, particularly as it pertains to executive orders around DEI. Despite the DEI backlash, there are still many steps corporations can legally take to ensure that equity and fairness are cornerstones of the organization. There are steps that every organization should take to build an equitable workplace for Black employees. Understand that Blackness is not a monolith—frequently
solicit feedback from Black employees to understand their experiences and parse out the data from employee surveys and exit interviews to better understand Black employee experiences.
Frequently solicit feedback from Black employees to understand their experiences.
Conduct an audit of your practices to ensure objectivity is embedded into workplace systems and consider different ways to hold leaders accountable for cultivating an inclusive and equitable environment. This could look like fairness, equity, and inclusivity ratings being part of leadership performance evaluations. Also consider integrating anonymous reporting systems into the workplace to better address issues of bias and unfairness before they snowball into bigger issues.
Anti-blackness is a widespread issue in many workplaces. For Black employees who have experienced racial bias or discrimination, there are several steps that can be taken. It's important to document any incidents of discrimination. Employees can also try to find internal support networks to lean on, whether that is an employee resource group, a trusted leader or a fellow colleague. Consider consulting with external support networks for advice and guidance, which can include a mentor, a friend or legal professionals who specialize in workplace discrimination. Lastly, it's important to know your rights as an employee. Familiarize yourself with state and federal laws to understand what protections you have against racial discrimination in the workplace.