Microsoft - Discrimination at the Workplace
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Case Details:
Case Code : HROB011
Case Length : 11 Pages
Period : 1997 - 2001
Pub Date : 2001
Teaching Note : Availabl0e
Organization : Microsoft Corporation
Industry : Information Technology
Countries : USA
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Excerpts
About Racial/Gender Discrimination & Sexual Harassment
Racial and gender discrimination may be described as any
verbal or physical act which is intended to cause or could reasonably be
expected to cause individuals or groups to feel intimidated, demeaned, or abused
because of their racial, ethnic, gender or national background.
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Sexual Harassment may be explained as an
illegal form of gender discrimination, which is void under Title VII of the
United States' Civil Rights Act of 1964. The state and federal laws of the
United States prohibit specific kinds of discrimination.
Title VII of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 states that "managers can't hire, fire, pass over for
promotion, deny a vacation request, do anything surrounding the terms and
conditions of employment because of someone's protected characteristics. This
means you can't make decisions or take employment actions because of an
employee's race, color, gender, religion, or national origin."...
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The Charges Against Microsoft
Instances of gender/racial discrimination and sexual harassment were common
in Microsoft since the 1980s. The company was even said to be the 'most
disdainful place for women to work' during the 1980s. In its initial years,
Microsoft had only a few hundred employees, most of them male. The only
women employed in Microsoft were those who edited technical manuals. The
work culture in the company was by and large undisciplined. According to
analysts, all the manners, attributes and traits that were not acceptable in
conventional society were highly prevalent in the company.
According to a report, "Microsoft was a geeks paradise, where issues such as
interpersonal skills and personal hygiene had no importance and the presence
of women was barely tolerated. It was the base of newly evolved computer
nerds, who prided themselves on being masters of their fields where women
had yet to take active part and were highly skeptical of the abilities of
their female counterparts."...
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In Trouble - Again
While the number of plaintiffs complaining of discrimination at
Microsoft kept mounting in 2001, Microsoft claimed that it was
committed to diversity and did not tolerate discrimination of any
type in its employment practices. The company announced that it had
made considerable progress in increasing the number of minorities
working at Microsoft and had demonstrated its commitment to
diversity and equality by promoting women and minorities. According
to company sources, as of October 2000, minorities accounted for
16.5% of total managerial positions in Microsoft and 22% of the
domestic workforce of the organization as against only 17% in
1997... |
Exhibits
Exhibit I: Microsoft's Failure in Preventing/ Remedying Discrimination
Exhibit II: Eliminating Discrimination in Organizations
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