Google has said it has sacked 48 people over sexual harassment claims in the past two years in the aftermath of revelations about a senior executive.

The admission from CEO Sundar Pichai followed a New York Times report that Android creator Andy Rubin received a $90 million exit package despite facing misconduct allegations.

The report said the search engine giant protected three senior executives from allegations of sexual misconduct by offering them payouts.

In a letter to staff, Pichai said the firm was taking a “hard line” on inappropriate conduct – and confirmed 13 of those fired were “senior managers or above”. However, Pichai said none of those employees received an exit package.

“We are dead serious about making sure we provide a safe and inclusive workplace,” the letter said, which was co-signed by Eileen Naughton, the company’s VP of people operations.

It said the story was “difficult to read” and did not deny any of its details.

The email said that company employees could use internal tools to report cases of inappropriate behaviour anonymously.

It also said that Google has updated its policy to require all vice presidents and senior vice presidents to disclose any relationship with a co-worker regardless of reporting line or presence of conflict.

“We are committed to ensuring that Google is a workplace where you can feel safe to do your best work, and where there are serious consequences for anyone who behaves inappropriately,” the email said.

“We want to assure you that we review every single complaint about sexual harassment or inappropriate conduct, we investigate and we take action.”