Microsoft has hired an outside law firm to review its current policy on sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the workplace, The Verge reports. And what is most interesting is that it is now known that the final report will summarize the results of all sexual harassment investigations against the company’s senior management and board of directors, including even former CEO Bill Gates.
It should also be noted that this activity by the hired law firm “will lead to the public release of a transparency report that will provide detailed information regarding the “assessment of the effectiveness of the company’s policy on sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the workplace, as well as training and related politician,” Microsoft said in a press release. The firm, among other things, will also “evaluate the steps that the corporation has taken to hold employees, including executives, accountable for sexual harassment or gender discrimination” and will include a certain as-yet-unnamed number of investigated cases of sexual harassment and information about how these conflicts were resolved in the end.
In this regard, it is important to release to the public and the most recent statement from Microsoft management on this matter: “The activities of the hired law firm will lead to the public release of a transparency report that assesses many aspects, ranging from the effectiveness of the company’s policy on sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the workplace, and ending with training and related additional policies. The report will also include a detailed overview of issues raised by employees in the Need Help thread in 2019, the steps the company has taken to respond to these issues, and will suggest additional actions that can further strengthen these security measures. The review will also include an analysis of Microsoft’s policies, practices and commitment to creating a safe and inclusive work environment.”
So right now, Microsoft is planning to reveal exactly how it implements the policy in relation to combating sexual harassment and gender discrimination. And, importantly, in doing so, mandatory disclosure of information about investigations at the senior level will be a key requirement. So already now, with a very high degree of certainty, it can be argued that the report of the hired law firm will indeed be very comprehensive.
