Andy Rubin takes a leave of absence from Essential over inappropriate relationship at Google

Andy Rubin, the former Danger founder and widely acknowledged “Father” of Android has taken a leave of absence from his new company, Essential, after news of a report that he engaged in an inappropriate relationship with an employee in his division during his time at Google.

According to a report from paywall site, The Information, Mr Rubin was engaged in a relationship with a woman who worked in the Android division headed up by Mr Rubin during his time at Google. Mr Rubin left the Android team in 2013, briefly heading up Google’s robotics division before departing the company entirely.

The report states that a complaint was filed by the woman with HR and an investigation was run after Rubin had left in 2014. The investigation, according to The Information report, concluded that ‘Rubin’s behavior was improper and showed bad judgement’.

Mr Rubin’s spokesperson Mike Sitrick told The Information that ‘Any relationship that Mr. Rubin had while at Google was consensual’, further stating ‘Mr. Rubin was never told by Google that he engaged in any misconduct while at Google and he did not, either while at Google or since.’

Google has strict rules surrounding employee relationships, with a policy that requires any couples to disclose their relationships so that one can be moved into another division to ensure that no impropriety, whether real or implied, is found.

Essential has confirmed Mr Rubin has stepped aside, with an Essential spokesperson stating that he ‘asked for a leave of absence to deal with personal matters’. Essential President Niccolo de Masi will run the day to day operations at the company in his absence.