Is Microsoft officially backing Emily Rich their Director of Startups after she took a direct stab at Federal Technology Minister Christian Porter who has been accused of rape.
Rich who appears to want to make a name for herself as a women’s rights campaigner claimed to the Australian Financial Review “The appointment of a minister aligned to such allegations is really challenging for me to understand”. She also supposed that Porter being Technology Minister will deter her peers from engaging with the Morrison government, “and it should”.
FILED – 06 March 2017, Munich: The Microsoft logo can be seen on the facade of the Microsoft-Germany headquarters. US Technology company Microsoft to invest 1.1 billion dollars in Mexico over 5-year period. Photo: Matthias Balk/dpa
The big question is why she is working for Microsoft the large US Company who has faced their own fair share of sexual harassment claims from female employees in the past.
Did Rich jump on her soapbox and critisise her employer when this scandal was unfolding in 2019 12 months after she joined the Company?
And where is there any evidence that Porter is guilty of rape.
Porter is facing a barrage of outspoken women after he was accused of committing a rape 33 years ago, which he denies and which can never be proven (the alleged victim, who withdrew her complaint, is now dead).
He is suing the ABC – which published the allegation – for defamation and will have zero trouble demonstrating its publication has seriously damaged his reputation in professional circles especially if you take seriously the comments of Emily Rich who past employment saw her working as a Debt Collections Officer.
Back in 2019 an email chain was going around Microsoft from women who shared stories of sexual harassment and discrimination.
The chain started in March 2019 when one employee asked other women at the company for advice on how to move up in the organization, after six years in the same position without seeing the possibility of advancement.
Dozens of women then shared their own frustrations about discrimination and sexual harassment, detailing allegations ranging from sexist comments during work trips to being told to sit on a coworker’s lap in front of a human resources leader.
Another woman said on one project she was only given tasks like booking conference rooms, taking meeting notes, and making dinner reservations despite being in a technical role.
According to the AFR Microsoft has refused to clarify whether Rich’s comments represent the official position of the company, which made nearly $60 million selling software and cloud services to the Morrison government in fiscal 2020.
Microsoft had to revamp its own workplace practices in April 2019 after the widespread media reporting of sexual harassment and discrimination complaints made by female employees being buried by the company’s HR department.
