- Google parent Alphabet’s board is looking into the company’s handling of sexual misconduct allegations, according to CNBC.
- It’s formed a special committee to look into the matter and has hired an outside law firm to help out with the investigation, according to the report.
- Among other things, the investigation will look into charges made against David Drummond, Alphabet’s chief legal officer, who had an affair and a child with a subordinate and is accused of having other affairs with women in his department.
- The investigation follows a shareholder lawsuit that accuses the company of covering up sexual misconduct and a worldwide walkout by company employees over its handling of sexual harassment claims.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
The board of directors at Alphabet, Google’s parent company, has launched an investigation into the company’s handling of sexual misconduct allegations, including those made against its chief legal officer David Drummond, CNBC reported on Wednesday.
The board has created a special committee to oversee the inquiry, according to the report. Its also hired an outside law firm to help with the investigation, CNBC reported, citing “materials” it had viewed.
Representatives for Alphabet did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
The investigation will look particularly at the conduct of Drummond, who heads up Alphabet’s legal department. In August, Jennifer Blakely, who formerly worked for Drummond as a part of Google’s legal team, said she’d had an affair and a child with him while she reported to him. After the birth of her son, she said she was forced to leave her position in the legal department and was transferred to the sales department to a position for which she felt ill-suited.
Blakely accused Drummond of abandoning her and having multiple other affairs, including with women who had worked with him at Google.
In a subsequent statement, Drummond acknowledged the relationship and said that he was “far from perfect,” but denied he had ever “started a relationship” with anyone else at Google or Alphabet.
Alphabet has been dogged by criticism about its handling of sexual misconduct allegations for much of the last year. An article in The New York Times last fall detailed how the company had allegedly ignored sexual harassment allegations made against key executives and, in some cases, paid generous severance packages to those executives. The report led to a massive walkout by Google employees around the world to protest the company’s handling of such matters. It also led to a shareholder suit that accused the board of covering up sexual misconduct.
Earlier this week, Drummond saw a $27 million windfall from exercising some of his Alphabet options.
Got a tip about Alphabet or another tech company? Contact this reporter via email at twolverton@businessinsider.com, message him on Twitter @troywolv, or send him a secure message through Signal at 415.515.5594. You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.
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