Google Whistleblower Complains About Boss’ Swinger Talk, Wife’s Nudes, Faces Retaliation

Last Updated:January 11, 2026, 21:11 IST

Victoria Woodall claims Google retaliated after she reported a manager for sexual harassment. Google denies this, citing restructuring.

Victoria Woodall claims Google retaliated after she reported a manager for sexual harassment. Google denies this, citing restructuring. (Image: BBC)

A senior Google employee has told a London employment tribunal that she was pushed out of the company after reporting a manager who allegedly made sexually inappropriate comments to clients and colleagues, including sharing details about his swinger lifestyle and showing a nude image of his wife, as reported by the BBC.

Victoria Woodall, who worked as a senior industry head in Google’s UK Sales and Agencies team, stated that she faced a sustained campaign of retaliation after whistleblowing against her manager in 2022. Court documents seen by the BBC show that Google’s internal investigation later found the manager had sexually harassed colleagues and touched two female employees without consent. He was subsequently dismissed for gross misconduct.

Google has denied retaliating against Woodall, arguing instead that she became “paranoid" after raising the complaint and began interpreting routine business decisions as hostile. The company maintains that her redundancy was part of a wider restructuring.

The allegations

According to her claim, the case began when a female client contacted her in August 2022 to complain about a Google manager’s behaviour during a business lunch. The client alleged that the manager boasted about his sexual experiences, spoke about being in an open marriage, and described sexual encounters involving himself and his wife. The conversation, she said, was unprompted and took place in front of the manager’s superior, who did not intervene.

While Google’s investigation was ongoing, Woodall said a second female client reported that the same manager had shown her a graphic image of his wife on his phone. The internal probe, which involved interviews with 12 people, uncovered further incidents, including inappropriate touching of colleagues and sexually explicit remarks at work events. Investigators concluded that the behaviour amounted to sexual harassment under company policy.

The manager denied the allegations during the investigation but was ultimately dismissed. Two senior colleagues, including his line manager, were later disciplined for failing to challenge his conduct and were subsequently made redundant.

Claims of retaliation and “boys’ club" culture

Woodall told the tribunal that after reporting the misconduct, her own boss subjected her to what she described as a “relentless campaign of retaliation." She said she was pressured into taking over a failing client account, removed from senior responsibilities, and placed in subordinate roles that made her vulnerable to redundancy. She also alleged that attempts were made to downgrade her performance.

Her claim further alleges the existence of a “boys’ club" culture within the organisation, including a men-only “chairman’s lunch" funded by Google until late 2022. Google has rejected this, saying an internal review found no evidence of such a culture and that the event was discontinued as it no longer aligned with company policy.

In 2023, Woodall escalated her concerns to senior leadership, including then Google UK and Ireland vice president Debbie Weinstein. Messages submitted to the tribunal show Weinstein expressing alarm at the allegations and discussing options with HR during a later restructuring process. Woodall claims those discussions were used to facilitate her removal from the team.

In March 2024, she was made redundant as part of a broader reorganisation. She remains technically employed while receiving long-term sickness payments for work-related stress.

Google accepts that Woodall’s original report constituted whistleblowing but denies that her redundancy was linked to it, saying her role was one of 26 eliminated during a wider restructuring. A judgment from the London Central Employment Tribunal is expected in the coming weeks.

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