Judge approves $50 million settlement in Black Google workers’ discrimination suit

OAKLAND, Calif. (CN) — A federal judge granted final approval Thursday to a $50 million class action settlement over claims Google discriminated against Black employees.

The settlement resolves claims brought by lead plaintiff April Curley, who joined Google in 2014 to recruit talented Black students from college campuses across the country. But within months of starting her new role, she said the tech giant began steering her toward lower-level positions and paying her less than her white peers. By 2020, she was out of a job.

Curley filed the class action in March 2022 with attorneys from Stowell & Friedman Ltd., Ben Crump Law and Sani Law. She was joined by two colleagues, Desiree Mayon and Ronika Lewis, who said they experienced similar treatment, were passed over for promotions, subjected to hostile work environments and denied the same opportunities as their white counterparts while performing the same work.

According to the plaintiffs, the discrimination wasn’t limited to a few managers or one department. They claim it reflected companywide policies and practices affecting how Black employees were hired, leveled into job categories, compensated, evaluated and promoted.

Mayon, who worked at Google from 2019 to 2021, told Courthouse News that she was subjected to a hostile work environment and experienced harassment as the sole Black woman out of 700 employees on her team.

“We, honestly, as Black women were told that we weren’t good enough to be there,” she said.

Specifically, Mayon said she was told to “go back to grammar school” and “squeeze my boobs together.” She added that people assumed she worked in recruitment for the company, rather than as a data scientist, and was told “my people don’t belong there.”

However, despite her experiences, Mayon said she wants Google to be known for its innovation and advances in the data space.

“I still find that light of the science, the nerd. To me, this case is showing that they’re trying to take the right turn, and I hope, even with my own journey, that Google will say out loud that they’re doing the right thing for data privacy and the humans that they’re seeking to serve,” she said.

Throughout the four years of litigation, both sides carried out extensive discovery, sharing workforce data, company policies and employee records. Each side also hired experts to study information about job titles, pay, bonuses, performance reviews and demographics.

The parties announced they had reached a settlement in principle in March 2025. U.S. Magistrate Judge Kandis Westmore in the Northern District of California granted preliminary approval of the settlement on Dec. 7, 2025.

Unlike many class action settlements that use formulas to distribute funds, the agreement employs an individualized claims process. Class members will submit forms describing their experiences and claimed harms, including lost wages and emotional distress. Northwestern Pritzker School of Law Professor Lynn Cohn will oversee the evaluation of each claim.

The settlement also requires Google to make several changes over the next three years. The company must review pay practices before finalizing annual salaries to identify and address any unexplained racial disparities. It must keep open reporting channels for employee concerns about pay, job leveling and performance reviews and investigate those concerns.

Google must also continue including salary ranges in job postings, give employees access to pay ranges for their positions and avoid using salary history when setting compensation. Mandatory arbitration for employment disputes will be paused until August 2026.

All but one of the 3,715 class members were reached during the direct notice period, with 29 individuals opting out and none objecting, according to the plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs asked the court for $12.5 million, or 25% of the settlement fund, for attorneys’ fees, plus $183,000 to cover litigation expenses. They additionally sought $50,000 for each of the three class representatives to cover their time and costs related to their representation.

Addressing the court, Curley said she has been unable to get another job in the tech industry after leaving Google due to her public connection to the lawsuit. Now an elementary teacher aiming to pursue a career in law, she said she hopes the settlement is a turning point in Google’s commitment to “doing better for all underrepresented groups, especially Black youth.”

“I want my kids to enter a workforce that is more equitable and inclusive,” she said.

Westmore said an order granting final approval, attorneys’ fees and service awards was to be completed “relatively soon.”

Speaking to Courthouse News after the hearing, plaintiffs’ attorney Ben Crump of Ben Crump Law said they were pleased the matter was able to be resolved and proud of the class representatives who “helped make things better for all class members in this matter.”

Linda Friedman of Stowell & Friedman, another attorney for the plaintiffs, emphasized the challenges of being a named plaintiff in the case.

“It takes an enormous amount of courage to lead a class action against one of the wealthiest and most successful corporations on the planet, and they have paid dearly for their courage,” she said.

A representative for Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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