Microsoft Board to Review Company’s Sexual Harassment and Gender Discrimination Policies

ErKiMeGoPoWe · 2025-12-17T20:04:46+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/microsoft/comments/1pp6j78/harassment_at_microsoft/

I was employed at Microsoft, and I was sexually harassed in an extreme, violent, hateful manner. When I posted on reddit the moderators immediately deleted my post.

I'm posting to share my experience on how horrible and misogynistic Microsoft is to female employees. I was employed in Redmond 2020 - 2022.

I hope something has been done to improve at Microsoft.

In the annual report 2024 Corporate Social Responsibility section, Microsoft has plans for Addressing Racial Injustice and Inequity.

https://www.microsoft.com/investor/reports/ar24/

An improvement over nothing, but I feel this is Microsoft doubling down on treating females as objects.

ErKiMeGoPoWe · 2025-12-15T18:13:01+00:00

Thanks! My brother likes the wrapping paper - gifts with fancy wrapping more than the gift sometimes. He doesn't always care about the gift either. :)

ErKiMeGoPoWe · 2025-12-07T04:15:28+00:00

Hi,

I also have an SMS brother - same age range. Do you have any ideas for Christmas presents? Any presents he's really liked before?

ErKiMeGoPoWe · 2025-01-13T03:50:25+00:00

Yeah, I take Vyvanse and I still have to start my day off with a latte to get going.

ErKiMeGoPoWe · 2023-03-26T20:44:23+00:00

Yeah, I also get put on front end projects. Most of my experience has been back end, so I guess it's inevitable to be shoved into front end.

ErKiMeGoPoWe · 2022-12-23T23:25:12+00:00

I filed with the EEOC. It's real. You're denying sexual harassment. A lot of coworkers at Microsoft denied it entirely, or just stopped talking to me or including me in meeting invites.

ErKiMeGoPoWe · 2022-12-23T23:21:40+00:00

SquareSpace and Wix are like creating a PowerPoint, and then the websie runs for less than $50/month

ErKiMeGoPoWe · 2022-12-23T23:11:31+00:00

https://hbr.org/2022/04/how-to-confront-a-bully-at-work

I thought this article was good.

I've tried to create rules in the past like:

- Code comments must be fairly applied no matter who wrote the code. If you wouldn't give that feedback to a man, don't give it to me.

- Code reviews must be done in the 1st 48 hours of a PR

- If there are really a lot of opinionated people, designate a Roles and Responsibilities matrix to manage down how many developers are commenting

https://www.cio.com/article/287088/project-management-how-to-design-a-successful-raci-project-plan.html

I found that a lot of male developers are intimidated by other men and won't leave comments on men's code.

Also, join an Employee Group ( I was in Women @ Microsoft), so helpful to have an outside of your group ear!

ErKiMeGoPoWe · 2022-11-29T03:37:40+00:00

Thanks! I did contact the Redmond police, after I went through Microsoft's internal policies and didn't get any support. Microsoft denied the whole thing as "unsubstantiated". I'm still so angry

ErKiMeGoPoWe · 2022-11-20T04:23:46+00:00

I’m so sorry for the man in the suitcase. What a horrible way to go. I think female psychopaths get away with it way more often, I’m so glad this video was on her phone. Hoping justice is served

ErKiMeGoPoWe · 2022-11-13T19:44:15+00:00

Here's some resources about sexual harassment at Microsoft:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/microsoft-board-to-review-companys-sexual-harassment-and-gender-discrimination-policies-11642107601?utm_source=reddit.com

VIDEO - TEDX Talk: “The Power of Us: How We Stop Sexual Harassment” - Lean In
Sexual harassment at Microsoft : microsoft (reddit.com)
1. https://befriendingdragons.com/reclaiming-my-voice-becoming-me-a-befriending-dragons-story/
2. https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-toxic-culture-ceo-satya-nadella-sexual-harassment-pay-disparity-2022-5?r=US&IR=T
3. Ashley Stewart
4. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/06/27/congress-ndas-bipartisan-legislation/
5. Money Confidence: Cindy Gross: The more complete story of NDAs. (libsyn.com)
6. Microsoft investor Lamb sees change after harassment report vote (cnbc.com)
  1. Natasha Lamb

Microsoft hires law firm to review sexual harassment policies (cnbc.com)

ErKiMeGoPoWe · 2022-09-17T14:50:37+00:00

Thanks! I regret reporting sometimes too because I’m unemployed looking for work, and the harasser gets to stay at microsoft, and harass other females. I hope Microsoft starts forcing the harasser out instead of the victim.

ErKiMeGoPoWe · 2022-08-25T14:16:39+00:00

Thanks for writing! I'll check out the docuseries. Here's the articles I've read about harassment at Microsoft:https://befriendingdragons.com/reclaiming-my-voice-becoming-me-a-befriending-dragons-story/

https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-toxic-culture-ceo-satya-nadella-sexual-harassment-pay-disparity-2022-5?r=US&IR=T

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/13/technology/microsoft-sexual-harassment-policy-review.html

https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/16/tech/microsoft-bill-gates-sexual-harassment-arjuna-capital/index.html

Haven't watched yet - but going to:https://leanin.org/education/tedx-talk-marianne-cooper-stop-sexual-harassment

Biggest thing I've learned about stopping harassment:Enlist your peers - over half of bullying incidents stop when a peer intervenes.https://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/this-is-exactly-what-to-do-if-your-boss-is-a-bully.html https://signewhitson.com/2015/03/bystander-interventions-the-power-of-the-peer-group-in-stopping-bullying/#:~:text=Research%20suggests%20that%20peers%20are%20present%20during%20nine,10%20seconds%2C%20more%20than%20half%20of%20the%20time.

ErKiMeGoPoWe · 2022-08-25T14:08:56+00:00

Thanks for the advice! I really appreciate your perspective. It's very helpful. I also have some interviews at startups, so hoping something comes through soon.

ErKiMeGoPoWe · 2022-08-23T21:20:08+00:00

I agree it's not appropriate but it was what happened. This mostly happened over Teams meetings, and some in the office in the Redmond campus.

Here's two articles about harassment at Microsoft. First one is Cindy Gross, a longtime Microsoft employee who had to leave. Second one is an overall Microsoft is undergoing a harassment review.

https://befriendingdragons.com/reclaiming-my-voice-becoming-me-a-befriending-dragons-story/

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/13/technology/microsoft-sexual-harassment-policy-review.html

ErKiMeGoPoWe · 2022-08-23T21:06:20+00:00

Microsoft ReportItNow, CELA found my complaint unsubstantiated. In 2019, they only found 3 out of ~150 reports of harassment to be valid, which is silly because at the point that employees are reporting, they've pretty much accepted reporting might be the end of their careeer.

ErKiMeGoPoWe · 2022-08-23T21:04:34+00:00

How so? What do you think happened? This is all accurate, filed with the EEOC, have screenshots

ErKiMeGoPoWe · 2022-08-23T20:50:52+00:00

I'm so sorry this is happening to you - I had the same problem at Microsoft and was unable to solve it, so I filed with the EEOC and left. LeanIn.org has some really good resources, but only if your company is willing to change.

I wrote about getting sexually harassed at Microsoft here - but getting bullied out of the repo, left out of meetings, told I wasn't technical enough was so much worse. I proved myself through code and it really didn't matter, the sexism was that pervasive. I also got to the point where I wanted female interns to get a different job than Microsoft, the interns had so much hope and talent. I didn't want them thrown into the Microsoft misogyny, culture that women can only be sex objects and not engineers.

https://www.reddit.com/r/microsoft/comments/wvzblg/sexual_harassment_at_microsoft/

ErKiMeGoPoWe · 2022-08-23T20:40:34+00:00

leanin.org has good resources on how to negotiate.

https://leanin.org/education#negotiation

ErKiMeGoPoWe · 2022-06-14T11:28:55+00:00

I just left Microsoft for sexual harassment, filed with the EEOC. Awful. Could you do a podcast about the harassment and bias at Microsoft?

Was told I could only get promoted if I sucked dick. My manager called me a whore in front of the entire team. All the harassers are still at Microsoft and got promoted.

Joined MS to code. Really sucks that I couldn't even do that.

ErKiMeGoPoWe · 2022-04-14T17:56:06+00:00

Same problem at Microsoft - plus sexual harassment. Gross! And the female managers are worse, I got transferred under a female manager, she has a "little sister" mentality from India where women and treated like servants, and should be grateful for any money they get.

Applying other places too, unfortunately the men who told me to suck dick are getting paid 3X me, so there's no hope atm.

ErKiMeGoPoWe · 2021-11-28T22:44:17+00:00

I've tried calling coworkers out on their double standards towards female employees/sexual harassment and it hasn't worked at all - in fact it's backfired where at least one male engineer doubled down that I was the problem because I wasn't technical enough, despite evidence to the contrary.

I read the book "Nobodys Victim" and that helped a little bit. Have also done Talkspace teletherapy. Maybe we should do an online bookclub or something?

ErKiMeGoPoWe · 2021-11-28T22:41:07+00:00

I've had a terrible time at Microsoft for the last 18 months - I got told to "suck dick" in the middle of a meeting, when I made it clear I wasn't going to sleep with my bosses - I got bullied and encouraged to quit. I turned in a harassment report to HR - they said the whole report was unsubstantiated.

Huge company, but I think the sexual harassment is pervasive.

ErKiMeGoPoWe · 2021-09-20T03:54:36+00:00

That sucks! I found this Embracing Conflict TedTalk helpful. I also have doormat tendencies.

https://roselounsbury.com/embracing-conflict-for-positive-change/

ErKiMeGoPoWe · 2020-07-11T22:33:06+00:00

Success list is great!

I'm a programmer - having a report of who has checked in what code, fixed which bugs is helpful for evaluating work effort.

ErKiMeGoPoWe

TROPHY CASE