A lawsuit claiming Google systematically discriminates against women in pay and promotion could force the search giant, and other Silicon Valley companies, to change hiring and promotion practices.

Three former Google employees filed the lawsuit Thursday in San Francisco, and said they would seek to make the case a class action, representing all women who have worked at Google since 2013.

William Gould, a former chairman of the National Labor Relations Board who teaches law at Stanford, says the case could prompt changes at Google and elsewhere, such as opening up more avenues for promotion for women.

“Class action is the principal vehicle through which discrimination violations can be remedied,” Gould says. “Corporations pay attention to the potential of monetary liability and money relief produces reforms better than anything else that exists.”

Google is also the subject of a US Department of Labor investigation into whether it discriminates against women in pay. Preliminary analyses showed large gaps; in addition, the New York Times last week reported that data compiled by female Google employees shows women are paid less than men in most job categories. But Gould said the lawsuit filed Thursday “is much more significant than anything the Department of Labor would do.” He says Thursday’s suit also may help air evidence from the government investigation that would not otherwise be public.