USA: Google refuses to disclose salary records in lawsuit alleging gender discrimination
“Google refuses legal request to share pay records in gender discrimination case”, 1 Dec 2017
…Google attorneys argued in court...that a judge should block a suit brought by former employees alleging systematic pay disparities on behalf of all women at the company. The company is also arguing that it should not have to provide information on the salaries of men and women or disclose wage policy documents until a first ruling on the class-action status.
The...complaint filed in September [2017]...provided the most detailed formal accounts to date of gender discrimination at Google… [and] builds on claims by the US Department of Labor (DoL)...[which] alleged “extreme” pay discrimination...throughout Google and sued the...company for salary records as part of its audit….
…[T]he judge..issued no formal ruling, but...said she was inclined to rule in favor of Google in its initial pleadings....
...“The plaintiffs want class-wide discovery but haven’t provided the facts to support that. We argued that discovery should therefore be on hold until that’s resolved...,” [Gina Scigliano, a Google spokeswoman,] said. “We...have agreed to produce compensation policies and practices...once their pleadings are finalized.”