As part of a routine compliance assessment, US Department of Labor has filed litigation against the tech giant, Google over compensation data. The purpose of the lawsuit against Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) is to obtain Google’s compensation record and documents.
According to the lawsuit, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) – a subsidiary of the US Department of Labor, requested Google in September 2015 to submit all the information pertaining to tech giant’s equal opportunity program and practices. However, Google did not fulfill the request despite number of opportunities.
Acting Director of OFCCP, Thomas M. Wood stated:
“Despite many opportunities to produce this information voluntarily, Google has refused to do so. We filed this lawsuit so we can obtain the information we need to complete our evaluation.”
It is pertinent to mention that Google should approve to allow the federal government to examine records and copy information which is relevant to its compliance. Google can permit all these tasks as a federal contractor with similar employment laws as administered by the OFCCP.
Google’s statement
While talking to Reuters, a spokesperson of Google asserted:
“The company has provided hundreds of thousands of records over the last year to comply with the OFCCP’s current audit. However, the handful of OFCCP requests that are the subject of the complaint are overboard in scope, or reveal confidential data, and we have made this clear to the OFCCP, to no avail.”
The representative further added that some of the data requests include employees’ private contact information which Google protects strictly. In addition, the spokesperson exhibited confidence that the matter will be resolved very soon with the OFCCP.
Consequence of Not Complying US Department of Labor Request
The OFCCP has been quite clear while stating the consequence of not complying US Department of Labor request. OFCCP stated that it will request the court of law to terminate all Google’s current contracts with the government. Moreover, they will also ask the court to prohibit them from entering in any such contract in the future.
