Ex-worker sues Microsoft for bias
Says female technical employees paid less, promoted less often
A former employee is suing Microsoft, alleging the technology giant discriminates against women in technical roles.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Seattle by Katie Moussouris, who says female technical employees at Microsoft are paid less and promoted less frequently than men, and that their performance was ranked below that of men.
Microsoft policies and practices “systematically violate female technical employees’ rights and result in the unchecked gender bias that pervades its corporate culture,” charges the lawsuit, which is seeking class-action status.
“We’re committed to a diverse workforce, and to a workplace where all employees have the chance to succeed,” Microsoft said in an emailed statement. “We’ve previously reviewed the plaintiff ’s allegations about her specific experience and did not find anything to substantiate those claims, and we will carefully review this new complaint.”
Moussouris, a well-known figure in the Internet security field, left Microsoft in 2014 and is the chief policy officer for Hacker-One, a computer-security bounty firm.
She says she worked for Microsoft in Redmond, Wash., for more than seven years on Microsoft’s security bounty programs, which offered prize money to researchers who uncovered security flaws, and handled public outreach on vulnerabilities, according to her LinkedIn page.
Her contention: An employee evaluation process called stack ranking disadvantaged women compared to “similarly situated male employees.”
The lawsuit is the latest to go after major technology companies for gender discrimination.
Similar lawsuits were filed against Facebook and Twitter earlier this year.
Microsoft, like other major technology companies, is wrestling with gender imbalance. At Microsoft, 72% of the employees, 83% of the technical workers and 83% of the leadership are men.
The technology giant says it’s taking steps to recruit more women and foster a more inclusive culture.