Alphabet Exec Resigns With No Exit Pay After Harassment Claims

The claims were revealed in the recent 'New York Times' investigation
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 31, 2018 11:52 AM CDT
Alphabet Exec Resigns After NYT Harassment Probe
The logo for Alphabet n appears on a screen at the Nasdaq MarketSite, in New York, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

An Alphabet executive has resigned after being named in the New York Times investigation into Google paying large severance packages or continuing to employ some who had been accused of sexual misconduct. The Times story primarily centered around former Google exec Andy Rubin, who got a $90 million exit package despite leaving Google amid sexual assault claims that a Google investigation found to be credible. But Rich DeVaul, who worked at Google parent company Alphabet's X division, was also named in the article as having allegedly invited a hardware engineer who was interviewing for a position at Google to Burning Man and told her he and his wife were polyamorous. The woman attended, in professional attire and with her mother alongside her, but DeVaul still allegedly asked her to take off her clothes and offered to give her a massage, per the Verge.

She didn't get the job, and found out that at Burning Man DeVaul already knew she wasn't going to. She told the Times she told Google about the situation and the company assured her "appropriate action" would be taken and asked her not to publicize the story—but DeVaul remained employed by Alphabet. DeVaul, reached for comment by the Times, apologized for his "error of judgment." Axios reports that DeVaul resigned Tuesday and did not receive an exit package. Meanwhile, a group of more than 200 Google engineers who are angry about what the Times investigation revealed are planning a companywide walkout for Thursday, BuzzFeed reports. Google CEO Sundar Pichai told employees in an email Tuesday he supports the walkout, and pledged that the company will take a "much harder line" against sexual misconduct going forward, per Axios. (Google initially said the Times story was "difficult to read.")

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