People with disabilities are not the only minority group to run into
problems with Microsoft. A lawsuit by black workers alleging race
discrimination has been filed in Washington with Judge Tohmas Penfield
jackson. He is the same judge that heard the Microsoft anti-trust case.
The workers brought their issues to the personal attention of Microsoft
CEO Steve Ballmer who told them there was "nothing" that he could do. The
workers are being represented by one of the nation's leading race
discrimination attorneys who is seeking class action status for the
lawsuit. The full story is below.
kelly
Chicago Tribune
MICROSOFT WORKERS SUE, ALLEGE JOB BIAS
7 BLACKS ARE SEEKING $5 BILLION IN DAMAGES
By Frank James
Washington Bureau
January 4, 2001
WASHINGTON -- Seven current and former Microsoft Corp. employees,
alleging hostile treatment and racial discrimination in hiring, pay
and promotions, sued the software giant Wednesday seeking $5 billion
in damages.
The lawsuit against Microsoft was filed in the same U.S. District
Court where the company lost its landmark antitrust trial. It comes on
the heels of a series of major discrimination suits in recent years
against some of the nation's best-known companies, including Texaco
Inc. and Coca-Cola Co.
An employment law expert, California-based lawyer Lloyd Loomis, called
the suit "significant" and the latest wake-up call to Corporate
America to shape up its employment practices.
The seven plaintiffs accused company managers of repeatedly promoting
lesser or similarly qualified whites over African-American employees
while subjecting black workers to disparaging remarks and other
indignities.
The lawsuit contained specific allegations of discriminatory conduct
at Microsoft. At a press conference, one plaintiff said, for instance,
that her manager told her she would "never get out of her cubicle" by
way of a promotion even as she saw less experienced white colleagues
advance. Other former workers told similar stories.
"The world needs to know that Microsoft is not the company that it
purports to be," said Willie Gary, the Florida lawyer representing the
plaintiffs. "They have a plantation-type mentality when it comes to
treating African-American workers at that company. . . . It's not
fair, it's not right and they must be stopped."
The lawsuit seeks class-action status on behalf of similarly situated
workers at Microsoft.
Responding to the lawsuit, Microsoft's vice president of human
resources, Deborah Willingham, said in a statement that the company
has a zero tolerance policy toward discrimination.
"We take any allegations of discrimination very seriously, and
immediately investigate any concern that is raised," she said.
"We have not had an opportunity to review the specific complaint filed
in federal court today," Willingham said, "and because it involves
personnel matters and litigation, we do not have further comment at
this time."
Besides the Microsoft employees, Gary has represented several black
Coca-Cola workers in a discrimination suit against that company. A
large group of former and current Coca-Cola workers whom Gary did not
represent agreed to a $192.8 million settlement in November.
Gary pointed to the relatively small number of black workers at
Microsoft to support his assertion that something is amiss at the
Redmond, Wash.--based company in terms of race relations.
Microsoft acknowledges that its black workers make up just 2.7 percent
of its workforce but says the company is constrained in its hiring by
the relatively small pool of black workers with the necessary
technical background and education. Blacks are nearly 13 percent of
the nation's population, according to census data released last year.
Blacks represent an even lower percentage of Microsoft managers, said
Gary, who said of 5,000 managers, 83, or 1.7 percent, were
African-American. The discrimination lawsuit was scheduled to be heard
in the court of Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson. It was Jackson who
ordered the breakup of Microsoft in the aftermath of the U.S. Justice
Department and 18 states winning their antitrust lawsuit against the
software maker.
Gary arranged to get the allegations filed on Wednesday in front of
Jackson by adding more plaintiffs and amending a discrimination
lawsuit already filed by one former Microsoft employee and on
Jackson's docket.
Microsoft has accused the judge of bias because of his actions and
statements related to the company. Gary said he would try to counter
any attempt by Microsoft to have Jackson removed from the case.
At a press conference Wednesday in Washington, one of the plaintiffs,
Rahn Jackson, said he had gone to Microsoft Chief Executive Steve
Ballmer with his complaint. "As recently as October I had a
conversation with Mr. Ballmer basically stating that we really should
try to work this out before it made it to this step," Jackson said.
"And he said that he didn't feel there was anything that he could do."
Jackson had been employed in Microsoft's Washington, D.C., office as a
government account representative. He now works for rival Sun
Microsystems Inc.
Jackson, who filed the original suit that was amended, said he was
passed over for promotions despite having good evaluations. On two
occasions the jobs went to whites who Jackson believes were less
qualified than he was.Jozette Joyner, who also worked in Washington,
D.C., as an assistant to a Microsoft vice president, said the stress
of being passed over for promotions caused strain in her family life
and led her to be prescribed Zoloft, a drug used to treat depression.
Microsoft last month agreed to a $97 million settlement of federal
lawsuits brought against the company by workers who said they were
classified as temporary employees--though some worked for Microsoft as
long as 14 years--so the company could avoid paying them pension and
health-care benefits and stock options.
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