Eileen Naughton, the head of Human Resources at Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL), is stepping down amid widespread controversy regarding the company's corporate culture, citing personal reasons for her departure rather than the issues at Google.
Naughton is supposedly departing her position to move to New York for personal reasons, claims Google. Google has stated that Naughton will take another position within the company but has not yet stated what that position will be. Naughton's departure is just the recent in several executive departures from Google; last year, Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin departed the company, a month later chief legal officer David Drummond resigned amid allegations that he had engaged in an affair with another employee and faced no consequences for his actions, while the employee did.
Naughton's departure comes in the wake of numerous scandals that have brought Google's questionable corporate culture into the limelight. In 2017, an employee released a memo questioning Google's diversity practices, only to be fired shortly thereafter. In 2018, thousands of Google employees staged a walkout after an executive departed the company with a sizable compensation package despite numerous sexual misconduct allegations. Just last year, Google came under intense scrutiny for the firing of four employees on Thanksgiving, with allegations that the firing was because of the employees' attempts to unionize and their personal views on the company. A complaint by the workers resulted in an investigation by the National Labor Relations Board. Another major blow was a piece published by the former head of international relations Ross LaJeunesse blasting the company for its unethical practices and its handling of employees.
A litany of bad press has marred Naughton's tenure. Of particular note is the numerous allegations of how poorly Google's HR has handled the many crises that have arisen over the last few years, including rampant sexual misconduct allegations at the executive level that has gone largely ignored by Google. The allegations of mishandling of sexual misconduct by Google senior executives were so troublesome that it prompted a lawsuit by Shareholders, where Naughton is named along with numerous other senior executives in court filings.