Google reportedly gave Andy Rubin $90 million after sex scandal (Update: Rubin tweets)

Update #2, October 26, 2018 (10:03AM EST): Andy Rubin took to Twitter to respond to the serious allegations levied against him by a recent New York Times exposé. In the tweets, Rubin doesn’t give any explanations about what is alleged in the bombshell article, but does call out both the publication and Google for taking part in a “smear campaign.”

Rubin is currently in a divorce and custody battle and posits that the NYT article and Google’s response (detailed in the first update below) are filled with “false allegations” and “wild exaggerations.”

Notably, Rubin says he “never coerced a woman to have sex in a hotel room,” which could be interpreted as a denial of the facts — or a lesson in semantics, depending on how you read it. Either way, Rubin’s tweets are below:

Update #1, October 25, 2018 (4:51PM EST): After The New York Times published its bombshell report described below, Google sent out an email to all employees to make a statement on the matter, via CNBC.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai is quick to point out Google has fired 48 employees in the last two years for problems revolving around sexual misconduct. Of those 48 employees, 13 were “senior managers and above,” and none of the 48 received an exit package.

However, nowhere in the email does Pichai attempt to explain what exactly happened with Rubin nor what the company plans to do to respond to these serious allegations of corporate negligence.

You can read the full email here.

Original Article, October 25, 2018 (2:06PM EST): When Andy Rubin — the so-called “Father of Android” who was the primary developer of the world’s largest mobile operating system — resigned from the Google Android team in 2014, he was given a fond farewell.

“I want to wish Andy all the best with what’s next,” Larry Page, Google’s then-CEO, said in a public statement. “With Android he created something truly remarkable — with a billion-plus happy users.”

On his way out of Google’s door, Rubin received a parting gift: $90 million paid out over monthly installments of $2 million. The final payment is expected next month.

However, in November of last year, news broke that the “resignation” wasn’t quite so simple. According to anonymous sources familiar with the matter, Rubin was actually forced to resign after having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a female subordinate on the Google Android team.

After this news broke, Rubin took a leave-of-absence from his startup, Essential, which at that point was just launching the Essential Phone.

While Rubin’s forced exit from Google was known in November last year, we are now just learning about this $90 million gift from Google, which the company would not have had to pay if it had fired Rubin instead of forcing him to resign.

According to The New York Times report on the matter, Rubin is actually one of three known male executives who received credible claims of sexual misconduct against them and were either given huge parting gifts on their resignation or — in one case — allowed to continue high-paying work with the company.

To make matters worse, Google is also a major investor in Essential.

Rubin’s transgression at Google allegedly stems from an extramarital sexual liaison he had with a female subordinate in a hotel room. Although the act is assumed to be consensual, Google — like many companies — has strict policies against sexual relationships with subordinates due to the ethical and legal concerns which stem from those situations.

Eileen Naughton, Google’s vice president for people operations, said in a statement, “We investigate and take action, including termination. In recent years, we’ve taken a particularly hard line on inappropriate conduct by people in positions of authority. We’re working hard to keep improving how we handle this type of behavior.”

While this policy no doubt exists, it appears from this new information Google overlooked the policy in Rubin’s case.

The rest of The New York Times exposé delves into the working culture at Google, where it is alleged high-ranking male employees are given soft punishments (or none at all) for violations of company policy, even when it comes to sexual misconduct. In Rubin’s case, there were many red flags which should have made Google at the very least keep a close eye on him, but instead, he was continually praised and financially rewarded.

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