BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
A senior engineer at Broadcom said she was stereotyped as a “difficult” woman and then fired, despite her 26 years working to grow the Palo Alto company’s Wi-Fi chip business.
Gouri Rayabhari, 58, of Cupertino, said she built her division from the ground up, leading to the development of more than 30 products and positioning Broadcom as a market leader across multiple generations of Wi-Fi technology.
“Despite this record of success, Ms. Rayabhari was subjected to years of gender-based harassment, discriminatory treatment and systematic efforts by senior male leaders to undermine her authority and advancement,” her lawsuit said. “Management repeatedly labeled her ‘difficult,’ a stereotype frequently applied to women in leadership positions who display the same assertiveness praised in their male counter-parts.”
Broadcom spokesman Tim Ragones declined to comment on the lawsuit, filed on May 13 in Santa Clara County Superior Court.
Yearsiong bias alleged
Rayabhari said the gender discrimination started in 2011 and escalated significantly in 2023. She said lesser qualified men were promoted before her.
She blamed three senior leaders for holding her back: Mark Gonikberg, Rohit Gaikwad and Rahul Magoon.
Rayabhari said Magoon was installed as her direct supervisor in November 2024, even though they had the same title. He allegedly badgered her and “made her life miserable,” and Rayabhari tried to resign in June 2025.
But Gonikberg urged Rayabhari to remain at Broadcom, telling her she was “family,” the suit said.
Lead up to firing
Rayabhari asked Gonikberg to investigate the “difficult” narrative being spread about her on Jan. 17, but Gonikberg dismissed the complaint as “office gossip,” the suit said.
Gonikberg fired Rayabhari on Jan. 29. He said that she had “undermined” him by asking an employee not to support a project that she was supposed to be working on, the suit said.
Gonikberg sent a mass email to the entire division of about 3,000 employees saying that Rayabhari failed to collaborate.
“This email has caused severe and lasting reputational harm and has effectively made her unemployable in her field,” the suit said.
Broadcom is headquartered in the Stanford Research Park at 3421 Hillview Ave.
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