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Google CEO Sundar Pichai.
- Google has fired 48 employees over the last two years for sexual misconduct, the company's CEO Sundar Pichai told the New York Times.
- Of those 48 employees, 13 held senior positions at the company.
- The prominent Internet search engine company had also protected three of its senior executives from sexual misconduct allegations by offering them payouts.
- Pichai is urging all employees to come forward if they experience any sexual misconduct while working at Google.
(Reuters) - Google Inc Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said on Thursday the company had fired 48 employees for sexual harassment over the past two years.
Pichai sent an email to Google employees in response to a New York Times story that was published earlier in the day.
The report said the search engine giant protected three senior executives from allegations of sexual misconduct by offering them payouts.
The email, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, said of the 48 that were fired, 13 were senior managers or held more senior posts.
However, Pichai said none of those employees received an exit package.
The email, which was also signed by Google's vice president of people operations Eileen Naughton, said that company employees could use internal tools to report cases of inappropriate behavior anonymously.
It also said that Google has updated its policy to require all vice presidents and senior vice presidents to disclose any relationship with a co-worker regardless of reporting line or presence of conflict.
"We are committed to ensuring that Google is a workplace where you can feel safe to do your best work, and where there are serious consequences for anyone who behaves inappropriately," the email said.
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