A high-ranking Google executive has resigned after getting spotlighted in a report last week about top officers at the search giant who were accused of sexual misconduct.
Richard DeVaul, who was a director at Google parent company Alphabet’s X research lab, resigned on Tuesday without an exit package, according to an Axios report.
DeVaul was accused in last week’s New York Times report — which revealed a $90 million golden parachute given to Android creator Andy Rubin after he was accused of sexual misconduct by an employee — of asking to give a massage to a woman he had interviewed for a job at the company.
During the interview, DeVaul had told the candidate that he was in an open marriage and invited her to attend the Burning Man festival with him. She did, and there he made his advance, asking her to remove her shirt so that he could give her a massage, according to the report.
She resisted his advances at first, eventually allowing him to massage her neck. She later learned from Google that she did not receive the job, but was not given a reason why.
DeVaul called the incident an “error in judgement” in a statement to the paper. The victim later reported the incident to Google, who assured her that “appropriate action” was taken, but asked her to keep quiet.
Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai last week said the Times story was “hard to read,” and that the company was committed to delivering “serious consequences for anyone who behaves inappropriately.” Pichai noted that 48 employees had been fired, including 13 who were senior managers or above, and they did not receive a severance package.
DeVaul’s departure comes as at least 1,000 Google employees are planning to stage a mass walkout on Thursday in protest of the company’s handling of sexual harassment allegations.
Pichai on Tuesday sent a memo to employees saying that he was “aware of the activities” planned for Thursday, and that employees who choose to walk out will have the “support” they need, according to Axios.
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