Microsoft HR embroiled in 'shocking' harassment lawsuit

Microsoft’s HR failings have been highlighted in a court filing accusing the software giant of having an “exclusionary ‘boys’ club atmosphere” that is “rife with sexual harassment” – The Guardian reports.

According to an unsealed ongoing class-action lawsuit, filed in 2015 by three female employees, plaintiffs accuse the software company of systemic gender disparities in pay and promotion in technical and engineering roles at Microsoft, as well as failing to properly investigate cases of harassment and discrimination.

The documents, which were first reported by The Seattle Times, contains almost 108 complaints of sexual harassment, 119 complaints of gender discrimination, eight complaints of retaliation and three complaints of pregnancy discrimination made between 2010 to 2016 by US female employees. At least three women reported sexual assault or rape by male co-workers.

Yet, after investigating more than a hundred complaints of gender discrimination, Microsoft concluded that only one was “founded”.