{"id":47180,"date":"2026-01-11T00:48:22","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T00:48:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=47180"},"modified":"2026-01-11T00:48:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T00:48:22","slug":"c62v51d1ry2oat_mediumrssat_campaignrss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2026\/01\/11\/c62v51d1ry2oat_mediumrssat_campaignrss\/","title":{"rendered":"Google employee made redundant after reporting sexual harassment, court hears"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<div data-component=\"byline-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dPVOKT\">\n<div data-testid=\"byline\" class=\"sc-573fa0e8-0 bWRWzH\"><span data-testid=\"byline-contributors\" class=\"sc-573fa0e8-11 cOQNNv\"><\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"byline-contributors-contributor-0\" class=\"sc-573fa0e8-5 gXJgDY\">\n<p><span class=\"sc-573fa0e8-7 gqeTMs\">Rianna Croxford<\/span><span data-testid=\"byline-contributors-contributor-0-role-location\" class=\"sc-573fa0e8-8 bIfajQ\">Investigations correspondent <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 gtLOOD\">\n<div data-testid=\"hero-image\" class=\"sc-5340b511-1 cMIbKV\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Tears-flowers-and-silence-in-Bondi-and-Streetings-fury.png?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 gUePlo hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/240\/cpsprodpb\/0a57\/live\/27646f00-ed52-11f0-b5f7-49f0357294ff.jpg.webp 240w,https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/320\/cpsprodpb\/0a57\/live\/27646f00-ed52-11f0-b5f7-49f0357294ff.jpg.webp 320w,https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Google-employee-made-redundant-after-reporting-sexual-harassment-court-hears.webp.webp 480w,https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/640\/cpsprodpb\/0a57\/live\/27646f00-ed52-11f0-b5f7-49f0357294ff.jpg.webp 640w,https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/800\/cpsprodpb\/0a57\/live\/27646f00-ed52-11f0-b5f7-49f0357294ff.jpg.webp 800w,https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/cpsprodpb\/0a57\/live\/27646f00-ed52-11f0-b5f7-49f0357294ff.jpg.webp 1024w,https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1536\/cpsprodpb\/0a57\/live\/27646f00-ed52-11f0-b5f7-49f0357294ff.jpg.webp 1536w\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Google-employee-made-redundant-after-reporting-sexual-harassment-court-hears.webp.webp?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" loading=\"eager\" alt=\"BBC A professional headshot of Victoria Woodall with chin length golden curly hair wearing a navy suit against a navy backdrop\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA\"\/><span class=\"sc-5340b511-2 jVqbAn\">BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><figcaption class=\"sc-536eff7b-0 gnQokQ\">Victoria Woodall has taken Google to an employment tribunal<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dPVOKT\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">A senior Google employee has claimed she was made redundant after reporting a manager who told clients stories about his swinger lifestyle and showed a nude of his wife.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Victoria Woodall told an employment tribunal she was subjected to a campaign of retaliation by the company after whistleblowing on the man who was later sacked.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Google UK&#8217;s internal investigation found the manager had touched two female colleagues without their consent, and his behaviour amounted to sexual harassment, documents seen by the BBC in court show.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The tech giant denies retaliating against Woodall and argues she became &#8220;paranoid&#8221; after whistleblowing and began to view normal business activities as &#8220;sinister&#8221;.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dPVOKT\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">In her claim, Woodall says her own boss subjected her to a &#8220;relentless campaign of retaliation&#8221; after her complaint also implicated his close friends who were later disciplined for witnessing the manager&#8217;s behaviour and failing to challenge it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The claim also included Woodall&#8217;s allegations of a &#8220;boys&#8217; club&#8221; culture, including that up until December 2022, Google had been funding a men&#8217;s only &#8220;chairman&#8217;s lunch&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Google said an internal investigation found no such culture and the event was ended as it was no longer in line with its policies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">A judgement from London Central Employment Tribunal is expected in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><h2 class=\"sc-f98b1ad2-0 gXmhTb\">&#8216;Swingers&#8217;<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dPVOKT\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Woodall worked as a senior industry head in Google&#8217;s UK Sales and Agencies team.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">In August 2022, according to her claim, she was contacted by a female client who said that, during a business lunch, a manager in the team had boasted about the number of black women he had had sex with.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">He said &#8220;he and his wife were swingers&#8221; and also described how they had sex with two women they met on the beach on holiday, according to summary notes of Google&#8217;s investigation submitted to court.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The client said the conversation was unprompted and happened in front of his line manager who did nothing to stop him, describing their behaviour as &#8220;disgusting,&#8221; in court documents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Woodall reported the client&#8217;s concerns to her boss Matt Bush, then managing director of the agency team, and Google opened an internal investigation into the manager&#8217;s conduct, it adds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">While this investigation was underway, Woodall raised a second complaint from another female client who alleged the same manager had shown her a &#8220;picture of his wife&#8217;s vagina&#8221; while scrolling through photos on his phone, according to her claim.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><h2 class=\"sc-f98b1ad2-0 gXmhTb\">The report<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dPVOKT\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Google interviewed 12 people as part of its investigation and uncovered further incidents which it found amounted to sexual harassment in breach of company policies, according to emails, notes and a copy of the report submitted to the tribunal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The manager was found on the balance of probabilities to have sexually harassed two female employees during a work event, where he allegedly touched one colleague&#8217;s leg during a conversation and rubbed another colleague&#8217;s back and shoulders, both without their consent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Google also found he had allegedly made inappropriate comments to staff, including telling a female colleague he had met for the first time that he was in an open marriage and that if she had &#8220;sex with him in the bathroom, his wife would enjoy hearing about it&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The manager denied the allegations during Google&#8217;s investigation and said he did not think he had shared with his workmates that he has an open relationship with his wife, according to the report.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">He was sacked for gross misconduct, court documents show, while his line manager and another senior colleague were recommended for &#8220;documented coaching&#8221; for failing to intervene. They were both later made redundant.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><h2 class=\"sc-f98b1ad2-0 gXmhTb\">&#8216;Boys&#8217; club&#8217;<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dPVOKT\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Woodall claims that shortly after reporting the sexual harassment in 2022, her boss, Matt Bush, gave her &#8220;little choice&#8221; but to swap her successful client account with a failing one &#8211; which up until that point had belonged to one of the two colleagues to later receive disciplinary action following her whistleblowing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">She described the move as a &#8220;poisoned chalice&#8221; that had left her vulnerable to redundancy, the court heard.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">She says she was then demoted to a subordinate role on a big internal project supporting the other senior manager her report had implicated. Her boss later tried to downgrade her performance among other retaliatory actions, according to her claim.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">In his witness statement, Bush says he always supported Woodall&#8217;s career and took fostering inclusivity and gender equality in hiring pipelines and promotions very seriously, adding that it was standard practice to regularly move accounts between the team.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><h2 class=\"sc-f98b1ad2-0 gXmhTb\">&#8216;Way to exit people&#8217;<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dPVOKT\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">In 2023, Google started a redundancy process that resulted in the departures of her boss and one of the senior managers who failed to report the sexual harassment, according to court documents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">In May that year, Woodall took her concerns about a boys&#8217; club culture and the retaliation she was facing to the top of the organisation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">In her witness statement, she says she met with Debbie Weinstein, then vice president of Google UK and Ireland after hearing from a HR colleague that she was concerned about the team and the experiences of women.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Following their discussion, Weinstein, now president of Europe, Middle East and Africa, appeared shocked by Woodall&#8217;s claims. Court documents show she messaged a member of HR: &#8220;Just met Vicki [Woodall]. Holy moly. Want to get you for 10 mins today.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Then in November 2023, as Google prepared for a broader reorganisation and redundancy process, Woodall claims there was a final push to remove her from the agency team.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">That month, Weinstein messaged Dyana Najdi, Google&#8217;s managing director for UK and Ireland advertising, to say: &#8220;keep pushing&#8230;for solution on how you can run a process including agency [Woodall&#8217;s team]\u2026 gotta use this as a chance to exit people&#8221;, according to messages of their conversation submitted to court.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">In March 2024, Woodall was made redundant alongside the second senior manager involved in the misconduct investigation, however she remains employed by the company receiving long-term sickness payments for work-related stress, according to her claim.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Google denies that Woodall was made redundant for whistleblowing, adding that her role was one of 26 across the team and wider department closed, according to its defence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">It disputes that Weinstein attempted to make Woodall redundant, saying she was very supportive towards her and instigated the investigation into the culture of the agency team.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The company accepts that Woodall&#8217;s report of the manager accused of misconduct was an act of whistleblowing, but denies any retaliation against her, saying the subsequent events were perfectly normal business decisions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#Google #employee #redundant #reporting #sexual #harassment #court #hears<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rianna CroxfordInvestigations correspondent BBC Victoria Woodall has taken Google to an employment tribunal A senior Google employee has claimed she&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47181,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47180"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47182,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47180\/revisions\/47182"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}