Google employee made redundant after reporting sexual harassment, court hears
11 hours ago Share Save Rianna Croxford Investigations correspondent Share Save
BBC Victoria Woodall has taken Google to an employment tribunal
A senior Google employee has claimed she was made redundant after reporting a manager who told clients stories about his swinger lifestyle and showed a nude of his wife. Victoria Woodall told an employment tribunal she was subjected to a campaign of retaliation by the company after whistleblowing on the man who was later sacked. Google UK's internal investigation found the manager had touched two female colleagues without their consent, and his behaviour amounted to sexual harassment, documents seen by the BBC in court show. The tech giant denies retaliating against Woodall and argues she became "paranoid" after whistleblowing and began to view normal business activities as "sinister".
In her claim, Woodall says her own boss subjected her to a "relentless campaign of retaliation" after her complaint also implicated his close friends who were later disciplined for witnessing the manager's behaviour and failing to challenge it. The claim also included Woodall's allegations of a "boys' club" culture, including that up until December 2022, Google had been funding a men's only "chairman's lunch". Google said an internal investigation found no such culture and the event was ended as it was no longer in line with its policies. A judgement from London Central Employment Tribunal is expected in the coming weeks.
'Swingers'
Woodall worked as a senior industry head in Google's UK Sales and Agencies team. In August 2022, according to her claim, she was contacted by a female client who said that, during a business lunch, a manager in the team had boasted about the number of black women he had had sex with. He said "he and his wife were swingers" and also described how they had sex with two women they met on the beach on holiday, according to summary notes of Google's investigation submitted to court. The client said the conversation was unprompted and happened in front of his line manager who did nothing to stop him, describing their behaviour as "disgusting," in court documents. Woodall reported the client's concerns to her boss Matt Bush, then managing director of the agency team, and Google opened an internal investigation into the manager's conduct, it adds. While this investigation was underway, Woodall raised a second complaint from another female client who alleged the same manager had shown her a "picture of his wife's vagina" while scrolling through photos on his phone, according to her claim.
The report
Google interviewed 12 people as part of its investigation and uncovered further incidents which it found amounted to sexual harassment in breach of company policies, according to emails, notes and a copy of the report submitted to the tribunal. The manager was found on the balance of probabilities to have sexually harassed two female employees during a work event, where he allegedly touched one colleague's leg during a conversation and rubbed another colleague's back and shoulders, both without their consent. Google also found he had allegedly made inappropriate comments to staff, including telling a female colleague he had met for the first time that he was in an open marriage and that if she had "sex with him in the bathroom, his wife would enjoy hearing about it". The manager denied the allegations during Google's investigation and said he did not think he had shared with his workmates that he has an open relationship with his wife, according to the report. He was sacked for gross misconduct, court documents show, while his line manager and another senior colleague were recommended for "documented coaching" for failing to intervene. They were both later made redundant.
'Boys' club'
... continue reading