Hundreds of employees at Google offices around the world, including in India, Thursday staged an unprecedented series of walkouts in protest at the company's treatment of women and lenient treatment of senior executives accused of sexual misconduct.
The demonstrations, dubbed "Google Walkout," follow an outcry over a New York Times investigation that detailed years of sexual harassment allegations, multimillion-dollar severance packages for accused executives, and a lack of transparency over the cases.
The employees are demanding several key changes in how sexual misconduct allegations are dealt with at the technology giant, including a call to end forced arbitration - a move which would make it possible for victims to sue.
Forced arbitration, a common contract clause for Silicon Valley employees, demands any disputes are dealt with internally rather than through other methods such as the courts.
Unequal pay and a lack of gender representation were also said to be among employees' concerns as they staged the action.
Google chief executive Sundar Pichai has told staff he supports their right to protest.
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"Yesterday, we let Googlers know that we are aware of the activities planned for Thursday and that employees will have the support they need if they wish to participate," the Indian-American top executive said.
Demonstrations at the company's offices around the world began at 11:10am in Tokyo and took place at the same time in other time zones. A photo from the Singapore hub showed at least 100 staff protesting.
When contacted a Google spokesperson confirmed to PTI that 150 employees participated in the walkout in India. The employees were from Hyderabad, Gurgaon and Mumbai offices. Overall, Google has about 2,000 people across four offices in India (Hyderabad, Gurgaon, Mumbai and Bangalore).
A Google spokesman in Singapore said he could not provide details on how many people took part in the walkouts at those two offices, which each have more than 1,000 employees.
In Europe, a small group of Google employees walk out at the company's London headquarters. A larger protest was reported in Zurich, Switzerland.
Hoi Lam, a staff developer advocate at one of Google's London offices, posted a photo on Twitter of workers gathered together.
He wrote: "The stories shared at Google London Walkout are heartbreaking."
"None of the allegations made about Mr. Rubin are true," he said in a statement, calling them "demonstrably false."
In a statement to the Times, DeVaul said he was sorry for the "error of judgement."
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