Court documents reveal 238 gender discrimination and harassment complaints filed against Microsoft
UPDATE: "We take all employee concerns seriously and have a fair and robust system in place to investigate employee concerns,” says Microsoft
Original story (13/03/18): Microsoft has been accused of "unchecked gender bias" following the revelation that 238 internal complaints had been filed about gender discrimination or sexual harassment between 2010 and 2016.
Plaintiffs suing Microsoft for "systemic and pervasive discrimination" against its female employees have cited the figure in their case against the corporation. Microsoft has denied the allegations.
The details of the case were revealed earlier this week after a court-appointed official found the scenario "far too remote a competitive or business harm" to keep the information sealed.
"As a result of Microsoft's policies, patterns, and practices, female technical employees receive less compensation and are promoted less frequently than their male counterparts," reads the complaint.
"Microsoft company-wide policies and practices systematically violate female technical employees' rights and result in the unchecked gender bias that pervades its corporate culture."
Filed in Seattle federal court in 2015, the lawsuit has begun to attract wider attention in the wake of the #MeToo campaign.
As reported by Reuters, plaintiff attorneys are now pushing to proceed as a class action lawsuit - which could include more than 8,000 women - though US District Judge James Robart has yet to rule on the request.
According to details in the court filings, only one out of 118 gender discrimination complaints filed by women at Microsoft was considered "founded" by the company.
Update (14/03/2018): In response to an enquiry from GamesIndustry.biz, a Microsoft spokesperson said: “Diversity and inclusion are critically important to Microsoft. We want employees to speak up if they have concerns and we strive to make it easy for them to do so. We take all employee concerns seriously and have a fair and robust system in place to investigate employee concerns and take appropriate action when necessary.”