Google employees walked out of the company’s offices around the world on Thursday, in protest of the search giant’s handling of sexual harassment claims — specifically at the executive level.
The walkout began around 11 a.m. local time in Tokyo. Other offices including Singapore, Dublin, London, Berlin, Zurich and New York followed suit at 11 a.m. in their respective time zones. The Twitter account @GoogleWalkout and hashtag #GoogleWalkout tracked the protests as they occurred across the globe.
Google employees also have a list of demands for Google co-founder Larry Page and CEO Sundar Pichai, including a call to end “forced arbitration” in cases of sexual assault and harassment. Private arbitration means people waive their right to sue, and it sometimes requires confidentiality agreements. They also demanded the company release a sexual harassment transparency report that’s available to the public.
When Google workers stepped out of their offices, they left behind a flyer that read, “I’m not at my desk right now because I’m walking out in solidarity with Googlers and other contractors to protest sexual harassment, misconduct, lack of transparency and a workplace culture that’s not working for everyone.”
