What started as a small planned protest against the company’s handling of a sexual misconduct case has expanded into a full-blown political awakening at Google. Employees who organized last week’s unexpectedly massive 20,000-person walkout at Google offices worldwide are now pushing company leadership to institute new policy changes and put in place better protections for employees.

The spark was the revelation that Android co-founder Andy Rubin was paid $90 million to leave the company in 2014, following a sexual assault allegation. Yet Google’s mishandling of the case is just the latest misstep from the search giant this year that has contributed to a widening gap of trust between executive leadership and employees. Protest organizers say they now have a template to push for more change at Google going forward.