Labor Department sues Google over fair compensation audit News
Labor Department sues Google over fair compensation audit

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) [official website], which is under the US Department of Labor, filed a lawsuit [complaint, PDF] Wednesday against Google [corporate website] over the company’s refusal to provide requested items related to their compensation policies. Google is under an Advertising and Integrated Marketing Solutions contract with the federal government. Part of that contract includes an equal employment opportunity clause. On September 30, 2015, Google was selected through a neutral selection process to undergo a compliance evaluation. On June 1, 2016, the OFCCP requested a compensation snapshot of September 2014 names, contact information, and job and salary history for employees in the September 2014 snapshot and the September 2015 snapshot. The September 2015 snapshot was previously given by Google. On June 17, 2016, Google notified OFCCP that they would not provide these requested items. OFCCP is requesting that the court require Google to supply the requested items and allow them to complete their compliance review. In the event that Google does not provide the requested items, OFCCP is requesting the cancellation of all federal government contracts with Google and disallowing Google from being awarded any future government contracts until it shows OFCCP that Google complies with the equal opportunity provisions. OFCCP also is requesting “any other relief as justice may require.” Google has stated [USA Today report] that the requested data includes thousands of employees’ private contact information that Google safeguards.

Google has been the subject of several lawsuits in recent years. In November Google was accused [JURIST report] by the EU of abuses in market dominance related to their Android mobile phone operating system. In January 2015 a representative for Google signed an agreement [JURIST report] to rewrite the company’s current privacy policy in response to pressure from the UK Information Commissioner’s Office [official website]. The same month Google was among four tech companies that reached a $415 million settlement [JURIST report] in a class action lawsuit claiming the companies unlawfully agreed to reduce employee compensation and mobility.

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