Alphabet Inc.’s Google has reached an undisclosed deal with Chelsey Glasson, who claimed she was discriminated against by the search giant after becoming pregnant.
Glasson announced in October that she would sue Google in 2020 after repeated attempts to disclose pregnancy discrimination were disregarded. She calculated that her legal battle would cost more than $100,000 and would have a significant impact on her mental health. Glasson claimed that her time at Google caused her insomnia, panic attacks, and heart palpitations.
Google did not reply immediately to a request for comment. Glasson confirmed the settlement but did not elaborate.
When Chelsey Glasson learned she was expecting her second child in 2019, she had no idea the first three years of her new baby’s existence would be overshadowed by an epic legal struggle against a trillion-dollar corporation. In 2020, the 38-year-old filed a lawsuit against Google, her former employer, stating that she was discriminated against while pregnant, observed others being treated similarly, and suffered retaliation from her boss when she spoke out about it.
Despite being represented by Washington attorneys and partially supported by a non-profit organisation, the American Association of University Women, she  put in long hours preparing for her . She spent her nights, after her two children have gone to bed, looking for records and preparing for processes like her recent deposition in March. Her children’s lives have been affected almost as much as her own.
Glasson’s case originally drew attention after she released a widely circulated internal memo headlined I’m Not Returning to Google After Maternity Leave, and Here’s Why, which was later leaked to the public.
Chelsey then engaged an attorney, and Google responded by investigating a tiny fraction of her accusations but finding no evidence of policy violations. In September 2019, Glasson filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). She filed a lawsuit in July 2020 when the EEOC inquiry stalled. While many firms move rapidly to settle litigation, Google continues to deny Chelsey’s assertions.
Glasson thinks her predicament demonstrates how much a worker stands to lose when going up against one of the world’s greatest IT companies. Worker welfare and labour relations have recently become more significant at large digital corporations, as evidenced by whistleblower exposes such as those made by former Facebook employee Frances Haugen. Glasson has called for stronger whistleblower protection and support, citing her personal experience as an example of the problems they encounter.
