Sexist behavior is common in the corporate world. The bigger the company the more wide-spread the sexist behavior. This is something that large companies are combating in the modern age and this is not something new for Microsoft. The giant has been facing this issue for a while now and has admitted that it needs to do even better.
A 90-page long mail thread was revealed in which multiple female employees in the firm complained about sexist behavior in the firm. The list mentioned a few sexual harassment incidents. These incidents were reported to HR and managers but it seems that Microsoft failed to do any justice. One female colleague reported the following incident of sexual harassment at Microsoft:
As a Microsoft Partner, [I] was asked to sit on someone’s lap twice in one meeting in front of HR and other executives. I can assure you that nothing was done. I alone objected and cited Microsoft policy. The person said that he did not have to listen and repeated the request a second time. No one said anything.
Multiple people reported that sexist behavior is not something that is limited to a single brand or team but it has plagued the entire company as a whole. Not only do women at Xbox have to deal with sexist behavior but the same can be said about women that are under the Windows and Azure divisions.
One female employee reported that she was getting death threats on not performing sexual acts and that she even reported the incident to HR but nothing much was done. The following is what she had to say about the incident:
I raised immediate attention to HR and management. My male manager told me that ‘it sounded like he was just flirting’ and I should ‘get over it’. HR basically said that since there was no evidence, and this man worked for a partner company and not Microsoft, there was nothing they could do.
Such sexist behavior cannot be tolerated in a company and women need to feel safe at work. Not only that, men need to know that their actions and words can have consequences no matter which position they hold at a company.
Let us know what you think about this kind of sexist behavior at Microsoft and whether or not you have had a similar experience at a company.
