The Allegations Against Microsoft
The article by Fiegerman discusses the allegations against Microsoft on the issue of gender discrimination and sexual harassment. The author notes that employees of Microsoft have reported 108 cases of sexual harassment and 119 incidences of gender discrimination between 2010 and 2016. Apparently, the company has allowed many female employees to be harassed by the male staff members. The article notes that in 2015, a female employee sued the company for being left out in promotion exercises that always favored less qualified male employees.
Microsoft's Response
On their part, Microsoft insists that they have well-established diversification policies that protect employees against discrimination and harassment. They indicated that only 1 out of the 118 cases of discrimination was valid. The company claims that it has its internal systems of investigation that follows up on all reports from employees. Fiegerman notes that the issue of female discrimination is common in tech companies because there have been similar cases in reputable corporations such as Uber and Google.
The Wider Issue
The issue of gender discrimination at the workplace is one that has refused to die even after decades of activism. If big companies experience such problems, the situation could be worse in smaller companies with little or no media attention. I think male chauvinism is a deeply entrenched vice that may not be stopped by simple policies. The entire society needs to work together in protecting the place of women in the workplace. It would not be effective to have anti-discrimination policies at work while at home and other social places women continue to face harassment. Therefore, a multilevel intervention would be the only solution to streamlining diversity at the workplace.
Works Cited
Fiegerman, Seth. "Microsoft Received 238 Gender Discrimination and Harassment Complaints". CNNMoney, 2018, http://money.cnn.com/2018/03/13/technology/microsoft-gender-discrimination-lawsuit/index.html. Accessed 14 Mar 2018.
