Microsoft Facing Discrimination Suit
W A S H I N G T O N, Jan. 3 -- Seven current and former Microsoft Corp.employees are planning to sue the computer software maker fordiscrimination, citing racial bias, the plaintiffs’ lawyers said.
The suit, to be filed in U.S. District Court for the District ofColumbia on today, asks for $5 billion, the lawyers said in astatement. This is the second bias suit against the Redmond,Wash.-based company in the past three months.
The plaintiffs include four employees based in Washington andthree more in Washington state. The complaint allegesdiscrimination in evaluations, compensation, promotions, wrongfultermination and retaliation.
Despite news of the lawsuit, Microsoft’s stock closed more than $4 higher at nearly $48.
Microsoft’s last notable case in the Washington federal courtwas the antitrust lawsuit filed by the Justice Department andseveral states in which District Judge Thomas Penfield Jacksonordered the company split in two. That case is under appeal.
Microsoft: We Are Diverse
Microsoft spokesman Dean Katz said Tuesday that he had not seenthe lawsuit, but that his company was committed to diversity.
“Microsoft does not tolerate discrimination in any of itsemployment practices, and we are committed to treating all of ouremployees fairly,” Katz said. “We take these kinds of issues veryseriously.”
Katz said blacks make up 2.7 percent of Microsoft’s domesticwork force, but all minorities comprise 22.7 percent of thecompany’s workers, he said.
“We’re pleased with the progress we’ve made in increasing thenumber of minorities working at Microsoft. That said, there arestill a number of things we can do to stimulate interest amongminorities in the technical fields,” he said, citing the nearly$100 million in grants Microsoft has given to organizations tostimulate interest in tech jobs among women and minorities.
The firm of Willie E. Gary, the Florida lawyer who brought thesuit, did not return a call seeking details Tuesday.
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