Bizarre.
Not Cool
Microsoft’s team meetings sound like a nightmare.
In a new Insider investigation, dozens of employees claim misconduct is rampant at the software giant, and often excused for the “golden boys” who make the company the most money.
The report alleges that an executive named Alex Kipman, who leads a team that CEO Satya Nadella is particularly reliant on, has inappropriately touched women at work without repercussions. In a particularly bizarre detail, one person at Microsoft even told Insider that Kipman watched what they described as “VR porn,” depicting barely-clad women, in front of other employees.
Both Microsoft and Kipman declined Insider’s requests for comments.
Industry Wide
The tech industry has got a lot of house cleaning to do.
The news about Kipman comes days after SpaceX CEO Elon Musk was accused of sexual misconduct in which he allegedly asked a SpaceX flight attendant for a sexual favor. It was only weeks ago that Apple employees started quitting because they were being forced to return to the office instead of working remotely, and earlier in February, many of them were reportedly using Android phones because they were afraid the company was spying on their unionization and organization efforts.
Sexual misconduct, harassment, workplace retaliation and other abuses aren’t acceptable, yet the allegations continue. How long is it going to take for Silicon Valley to clean up its act?
More on tech sins: Tesla Storing Thousands of Employees At An “Old Military Camp” in China