Google confirms it agreed to pay $135 million to two execs accused of sexual harassment

The $135 million was whittled down to $105 after one executive left to join Uber

Google agreed to pay $135 million to two former executives accused of sexual harassment. We now know from a newly unsealed lawsuit that former senior search vice president Amit Singhal was initially offered $45 million, triple the amount he ended up walking away with.

The figure was first reported by CNBC, which spotted a newly unsealed shareholder lawsuit against the company. According to the suit, former head of Android Andy Rubin allegedly received an offer for a $150 million stock grant, which he then allegedly used to negotiate the $90 million in severance pay we’d heard about in previous reports. Singhal’s $45 million offer was reduced to $15 million because he joined a rival company, Uber. read more »

Manchester City launches scheme to help victims of sexual abuse scandal

English Premier League club Manchester City has launched a scheme to help survivors involved in a sexual abuse scandal that resulted in former youth coach and junior scout Barry Bennell being imprisoned for 31 years.

The 65-year-old Bennell was sentenced last year for 50 counts of child sexual abuse against 12 boys between the ages of eight and 15 from 1979 to 1991.

The redress scheme is widely reported to offer financial compensation worth millions of dollars to the survivors, as well as an official apology. read more »

Cardinal Pell’s sexual assault sentencing will be broadcast live, a judical rarity for Australia

A pivotal moment in the long and torrid history of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church will be broadcast live Wednesday on television: the sentencing of Cardinal George Pell, the most senior Vatican leader convicted of sexually assaulting children.

The Australian judge who oversaw Pell’s trial and conviction for assaulting two choir boys in the mid-1990s has decided that his sentencing in Melbourne will be shown nationwide on a state-owned television network at 10 a.m.

Courtroom broadcasts are rare in Australia, and the decision may be an effort by the court to dispel a perception that Pell, 77, received special protection when it imposed an Internet-wide gag order on his trial and guilty verdict. That order was defied by The Washington Post and other news outlets. read more »