A senior Google employee has told a London employment tribunal that she was made redundant after reporting sexual harassment by a manager, accusing the technology giant of subjecting her to a campaign of retaliation following her whistleblowing.
Victoria Woodall, a senior industry head in Google UK’s Sales and Agencies team, claims the company turned against her after she raised concerns about a manager who allegedly made explicit sexual comments to clients and colleagues.
According to documents presented in court, Google’s internal investigation later found the manager had sexually harassed two female employees and engaged in inappropriate conduct, including touching colleagues without consent. He was subsequently dismissed for gross misconduct.
Woodall says that after reporting the behaviour in 2022, her own manager subjected her to what she described as a “relentless campaign of retaliation”, including removing her from a successful client account and assigning her to a struggling one, leaving her vulnerable to redundancy.
She also alleges she was demoted to a subordinate role on a major internal project involving a senior manager linked to her complaint and later faced attempts to downgrade her performance.
Google disputes the allegations, denying any retaliation and arguing that Woodall became overly suspicious after whistleblowing and misinterpreted routine business decisions as hostile actions.
Court documents show that the original misconduct investigation was launched after a female client complained that a manager had spoken in detail about his swinger lifestyle, made sexualised comments about women, and later showed another client an explicit image on his phone.
Further inquiries uncovered additional incidents involving inappropriate remarks to staff and unwanted physical contact during a work event. Two senior colleagues were criticised for failing to intervene and were later made redundant.
Woodall’s claim also alleges a “boys’ club” culture within Google UK, including a men-only luncheon previously funded by the company. Google says an internal review found no such culture and that the event was discontinued for policy reasons.
In 2023, as Google prepared for wider restructuring, Woodall escalated her concerns to senior leadership, including Google’s UK and Ireland vice president at the time. Internal messages presented to the tribunal reference using the reorganisation process as an opportunity to “exit people.”
In March 2024, Woodall was made redundant. She remains employed by Google while receiving long-term sickness pay related to work-related stress.
Google accepts that Woodall’s original complaint constituted whistleblowing but maintains her redundancy was part of a broader restructuring affecting multiple roles and was not linked to her report.
A judgment from the London Central Employment Tribunal is expected in the coming weeks.
Erizia Rubyjeana
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