Microsoft board to review sexual harassment and discrimination policies

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In response to a shareholder proposal passed at its latest annual meeting, Microsoft's board said that it will be reviewing the effectiveness of its sexual harassment and gender discrimination policies and practices, according to Reuters. The review will produce "a transparency report with results of any sexual harassment investigations in recent years against the company's directors and senior executives". It will also summarise the results of an investigation the board conducted in 2019 involving an allegation about Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft.

Gates since stepped down from the Microsoft Board in 2020, after news emerged that he tried to start a romantic relationship with an individual in the company. It is also said that law firm, Arent Fox has been hired to assist in the review, at the end of which "it will make public a version of the report detailing its finding and recommendations".

In fact in recent years, the company has faced criticism from current and former employees, who argued that the "company’s handling of sexual harassment claims is problematic and there’s little pay equity and unequal promotion opportunities for women and underrepresented minorities", said The Washington Post.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Microsoft for a statement.

Meanwhile, Microsoft unveiled its plans to enter the Metaverse with Mesh for Microsoft Teams last year in November. According to Microsoft, this will be rolled out this year. Microsoft's latest innovation will combine the mixed-reality capabilities of Microsoft Mesh, which allows people in different physical locations to join collaborative and shared holographic experiences, with the productivity tools of Microsoft Teams, where people can join virtual meetings, send chats, collaborate on shared documents and more.

Separately, a recent report by non-profit organisation Center for Intimacy Justice (CIJ) done together with pelvic health start-up Origin claimed that Facebook parent company Meta rejects ads on women’s health while allowing ads by men’s sexual wellness companies with sexual innuendos to run on Facebook and Instagram. According to the report, the categories of start-ups with rejected ads included menopause, pelvic pain, pregnancy or postpartum care, menstrual health, fertility, sexual wellness, education, and others. Meta commonly classified these health ads as “adult products” and the report claimed that “Meta appears to apply this policy unevenly”.

Photo courtesy: 123RF

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