NEW YORK, NY -- An antitrust lawsuit isn't phasing the stock of Google's parent company. It rose almost 1.4 percent today despite the Justice Department accusing the tech giant of suppressing competition so it could continue its dominance in online search and ad markets.
Google responded, calling the lawsuit deeply flawed. The stock followed the broader market today as the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 113 points to 28-308. The S&P 500 rose 16 points to 34-43 while the Nasdaq finished up 37 points to 11-516.
Google has also been facing pressure from within the company. Last September, the company gave employees a four-day weekend to avoid burnout during the coronavirus pandemic.
CNBC says it's being defined as a one-time paid holiday for "collective wellbeing." Full-time employees and interns got the extra day, which was attached to the Labor Day weekend. Google says it is not being added to the annual holiday calendar and only applies to 2020.
Last summer employees at Google were reportedly being asked to work from home for another year. The Wall Street Journal reported the work-from-home phase could last until next July.
Google was set on having employees back in the office three weeks ago. However, the spike in coronavirus cases in California pushed that back to September.
The tech company has also been embroiled in a labor dispute. Last year, four employees claimed they were fired for trying to organize a union and plan to file a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board.
In a posting on Medium, the workers said they were involved in legally-protected activities and fighting to improve a harmful workplace created by unethical business decisions.
Google says the four were fired for violating its security policy and leaking company secrets. The workers call that allegation a lie and say the company smeared their reputations by spreading rumors they were rule-breaking troublemakers.
Also, Google's reliance on contractors and temporary employees is creating a two-tier system for workers at the tech giant. A report by The New York Times details how Google hires contractors at a lower cost, with fewer benefits, but they often do the same jobs as full-time employees.
Contractors say they are prohibited from attending company events, can't apply for full-time jobs internally, and some workers are physically separated from Google employees in contractor-only buildings. Google reps say they are taking steps to change the way contractors are treated.
Maximus CEO Bruce Caswell talks with WONK FM's Jen Richer about how taking a hard look at how his company addresses diversity both inside and out can make a big difference when manage an industry giant. Listen to the full interview here:
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