SAN FRANCISCO — Alphabet’s board of directors agreed to pay a former top Google executive as much as $45 million when he resigned from the company in 2016 after being accused of groping a subordinate. The amount was revealed on Monday in a shareholder lawsuit accusing the board of directors of Alphabet, the parent of Google, of shirking their responsibilities by agreeing to pay executives accused of misconduct instead of firing them for cause. The suit was part of the fallout over how Google has handled sexual harassment cases. In one case, Google handed a $90 million exit package to Andy Rubin, who used to head its Android division, after he was accused of sexual misconduct. The shareholder lawsuit was filed in January in California Superior Court with redactions in the passages referring to board discussions.

Source: New York Times March 11, 2019 21:04 UTC