Google Agrees To Pay $28M In Racial Bias Lawsuit, But Black Employees Excluded
Google has agreed to pay $28 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging that it favored white and Asian employees over other racial and ethnic groups by offering them higher salaries and placing them on faster career tracks.
Reuters reports that the settlement was reached after lawyers agreed to exclude Black workers from the class. A lawyer for the plaintiff told POCIT that a Black employee pursuing a separate pay equity case against Google requested the exclusion so she could pursue those claims independently.
The Case Against Google
The lawsuit was led by Ana Cantu, who worked at Google for seven years in its people operations and cloud departments. She claimed she was repeatedly overlooked for promotions and salary increases while white and Asian colleagues advanced.
Cantu, who is Mexican and racially Indigenous, alleged that Google systematically placed white and Asian employees in higher job “levels” than their peers performing the same work, leading to disparities in pay and career growth. She also argued that Google’s practice of basing starting pay and job levels on prior salaries reinforced racial and ethnic wage gaps, violating the California Equal Pay Act.
A leaked internal document supported these claims, showing that employees from certain racial and ethnic backgrounds were paid less for similar work. Cantu left Google in September 2021.
Black employees excluded from the class action
The class-action lawsuit covers at least 6,632 current and former Google employees in California who worked there between February 15, 2018, and December 31, 2024. According to Reuters, the settlement was reached after Cantu’s legal team agreed earlier this month to exclude Black employees from the proposed class, at Google’s request.
One of the lawyers representing the plaintiff told POCIT there is another case brought by a Black employee on pay equity. “Her counsel asked that we carve out Black/African-American employees so she could pursue those claims separately,” said Jennifer Kramer, partner at Kramer Brown Hui LLP, referencing April Curley v. Google (Northern District of California).
Read: Google’s $20K Race Pay Gap: Black Ex-Employees Share Their Insights
The settlement
The lawsuit received preliminary approval last week from Judge Charles Adams of the Santa Clara County Superior Court in California. Judge Adams called the settlement fair, reasonable, and “a good result for the class.”
Although Google has agreed to the payout, the company denies any wrongdoing. “We continue to disagree with the allegations that we treated anyone differently and remain committed to paying, hiring, and leveling all employees fairly,” said Google spokesperson Courtenay Mencini in a statement.
After deductions for legal fees, penalties, and administrative costs, the net settlement amount totals $20.4 million. Judge Adams will determine whether the settlement will be finalized at a final approval hearing scheduled for September 11, 2025.
Amendment: This article was updated on March 24, 2025, to include a comment from Jennifer Kramer, one of the lawyers representing Ana Cantu.
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