Microsoft e-mails detail sexual harassment and discrimination – prompting Satya Nadella to react

In one of the emails, a woman said that her male colleagues called her a "slut" in the face. (Others said they saw and experienced the same thing.) Another said she was asked to sit on the lap of a man, in front of human resources people. A third woman described the "criminal sanctions" as a reason for not being able to progress at Microsoft.

The messaging chain began on March 20 with a request for advice from a woman to 18 women's groups in the company: she was frustrated that she could not move on within Microsoft while watching her boys' club colleagues.

"This frustration has been going on for at least three years or more now," she wrote.

The woman's e-mail was first welcomed with encouragement and offers of career development assistance and ideas on how to better track employee hiring and retention data. .

Other responses have flocked. One woman stated that she felt compelled to be an "unpleasant person" to get credit for her job, "or be a nice person and treated as a" diversity recruiter ".

"We all have stories of reducing our work," wrote another woman. "We are all worried about being fired if we speak." Others have written that they had changed their behavior to be treated fairly by the "boys' club".

Then more disturbing stories started to come out of the wire. "I recently had the chance to change roles, but the men in my last group really did not think of calling me a slut," wrote a woman. "To my knowledge, nothing has ever been done to remedy that." Others said they witnessed the same thing or experienced the same thing.

One woman wrote that she had been invited to sit twice on the lap of a male colleague – in front of human resources managers and other executives. "I am the only one to have objected and cited the Microsoft policy," she wrote. "The person said he did not have to listen and repeated his request a second time."

Another woman reported being sexually harassed during a work trip in which a man threatened to kill her if she did not give her sexual favors; she said that she had reported to management, but he had been told, "it seemed like he was just flirting."

At one point even Satya Nadella, CEO, was copied on the wire.

On Friday, nine days after the start of the discussion thread, Kathleen Hogan, Human Resources Manager, responded to the thread by explaining that she had talked to the management team about it.

"We are dismayed and sad to hear about these experiences," she wrote. "It is very painful to hear these stories and to know that anyone is facing such behavior at Microsoft. We must do better. Hogan said she would hold sessions the week of April 22 to hear the reactions and encourage people to contact her directly.

After Hogan's response, more and more women said their careers at Microsoft had been suspended or stalled because of having children or caring for sick parents. "Stories of Penalties for Mothers," called a woman. Some also noted the positive experiences they had with male managers who wanted to improve their management of female subordinates.

A woman told a Microsoft employee, who was joking with other employees, that he would stay in his room during a trip. she told another story about a senior consultant who walked past a Spanx store and told her that if she wanted to "try some Spanx, I would tell you if they are beautiful."

Another woman said she was sexually harassed by two different men, but Seattle's HR manager told her, "What will you do differently now so that it does not happen again?" And "I mean, I think you think of the future if you attend an event after office hours or at a social event. "

During the monthly question and answer session of the CEO, Satya Nadella, along with the employees, the women talked about the thread's concerns. "He actually said it was a top priority," said a Microsoft employee at KUOW.

While Nadella answered questions during question period, the reaction to the email thread appeared on the company's Yammer, an internal social media feed.

One woman wrote that Asian men and whites had been victims of "systemic discrimination" at Microsoft because of a 2016 policy of linking executive bonuses to diversity goals.

"Our permanent policy is to give more money to executives if they have fewer white and Asian men in their organization," she wrote. Some were rejected, although some men came to the defense of the commentator.

In an e-mail to all employees, Frank X. Shaw, Microsoft's vice president of communications, acknowledged the Yammer messaging chain and thread, and urged employees to watch the Q & A. He wrote:

"During the discussion, Satya and Kathleen committed to addressing the topics discussed in the e-mail, including improved data transparency, training and awareness of managers and employees, process, speed and transparency during the discussion. complaints and a review of part-time positions. pay equality. "

Thursday afternoon, even more emails were added to the initial thread. A Jewish woman wrote that she had been sexually harassed by men with whom she was working and, after refusing one, she told him that he could see her as a "witch who burned during the Holocaust. "

In 2015, a cyber security expert and a former Microsoft employee filed a lawsuit for sex discrimination against Microsoft. He was then joined by two other women, but the class action status was denied in 2018. The complainants appealed the ninth circuit.

Paige Browning and Isolde Raftery contributed to the report.