THE GOOGLE/ADECCO GAG RULES CASE

California law establishes, as a minimum employment standard, an employee anti-gag rule.  Doe v. Google, 54 Cal.App.5th 948 (2020). Employees have the right to compete, the right to whistle blow, and the right to freedom of speech.  They have the right to discuss and disclose information about wages, working conditions, and unlawful conduct, and they have right to engage in political activity and speech.  See Labor Code § 232, 232.5, 1101, 1102, 1102.5, and 1197.5(k); Government Code § 12964.5.  They also have the right to practice their trade and profession.  Business & Professions Code §§ 16600, 16600.1.  Employment contracts or policies with overbroad confidentiality or speech suppression provisions, as well restrictions on solicitation or seeking work with other employers, infringe that right.  See California Judge rules Google’s confidentiality agreements break labor law (Washington Post).

In Doe v. Google, the plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against Google and Adecco alleging that these companies’ policies, contracts, exit certifications, training programs, and other practices violated California’s employee anti-gag rule.  The consequential and pioneering lawsuit helped spark “a profound change in Silicon Valley culture.”

The Google Settlement

On December 4, 2023, the San Francisco Superior Court approved the largest PAGA-only settlement in history against Google.  In addition to paying $27,000,000 in penalties, the Court-ordered settlement also required the issuance of a detailed notice to almost 100,000 of Google’s permanent employees setting forth their speech and competition rights and stating Google would not retaliate against employees for exercising their rights. 

If you are a Google employee and have questions about your inclusion in the settlement, please contact GooglePAGAsettlement@rustconsulting.com.  Do not contact the Court.  

The Adecco Settlement

On December 23, 2025, the San Francisco Superior Court approved the settlement of Plaintiffs' PAGA claims against Adecco USA, Inc. The settlement resolves claims brought on behalf of approximately 3,390 Adecco Associates who were assigned to work at Google in California during the period from February 14, 2016 through March 16, 2017, as well as statewide Adecco Associates employed after July 2019.

Adecco denied, and continues to deny, that it violated the law or that it placed unlawful restrictions on employees' rights.

Settlement Terms

The total settlement amount for Adecco Settlement is $645,000. The per-employee penalty recovery under the Adecco Settlement for Adecco’s Google-based Associates is approximately one and a half times the amount recovered per employee in the prior Moniz v. Adecco settlement and is roughly comparable on a per-employee basis to the Google settlement.

Programmatic Relief

While Adecco maintains that its employee handbook does not place any unlawful restrictions on employees’ rights, as part of the Adecco Settlement, Adecco has agreed to revise its employee handbook to remove provisions that Plaintiff argued could be interpreted as restricting Adecco Associates' right to communicate directly with Adecco's clients regarding compensation, working conditions, or similar matters, including unlawful conduct.

Notice to Settlement Members

If you are or were an Adecco Associate who was assigned to work at Google in California between February 14, 2016 and March 16, 2017, you may be entitled to a payment under the settlement. Settlement checks and a notice explaining your rights will be mailed by CAC Services Group, LLC, the Settlement Administrator. Settlement checks are valid for 180 days from the date of mailing. If you do not cash your check within 180 days, the uncashed funds will be sent to the California State Controller's Office Unclaimed Property Fund in your name.

Contact Information

If you have questions about the Adecco settlement, please contact us at 415-433-1064, cbaker@bakerlp.com, or jsagafi@outtengolden.com.