Google employees walk out over sexual harassment, inequality and racism claims

Google employees around the world are to walk out of their offices on Thursday in protest at claims of sexual harassment, gender inequality and systemic racism at the tech giant, which "go all the way to the top".

The protest comes following allegations of sexual misconduct made against senior executives published in the New York Times, which organisers say are the most high-profile examples of "thousands" of similar cases across the company.

"As Google workers, we were disgusted by the details of the recent New York Times article, which provided the latest example of a culture of complicity, dismissiveness, and support for perpetrators in the face of sexual harassment, misconduct, and abuse of power.

"Sadly, this is part of a longstanding pattern, one further amplified by systemic racism," organisers said in a press release.

Staff around the world are expected to leave their offices at 11.10 am local time, demanding an end to pay inequality, more accountability in cases of harassment and better representation for workers.

Hundreds of employees in Dublin, Zurich, Singapore and Tokyo have already been pictured leaving their offices en masse, listening to speeches and "sharing stories about harassment, microaggressions, inefficient process, broken culture", according to one employee.

Richard DeVaul, a director at a unit of Google's parent company, Alphabet, resigned from the company on Tuesday after he was accused of sexually harassing a female job applicant.

Android creator Andy Rubin left Google in 2014 with a 90 million dollar (£70 million) golden parachute, one of three executives the company is accused of protecting and supporting after being accused of sexual misconduct, according to the New York Times.

"For every story in the New York Times, there are thousands more, at every level of the company. Most have not been told," added organisers.