Microsoft ends arbitration in sexual harassment cases

Enlarge / Microsoft's Brad Smith addresses shareholders during Microsoft Shareholders Meeting December 3, 2014 in Bellevue, Washington. (credit: Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)

This week Microsoft has altered a longstanding corporate policy, eliminating forced arbitration agreements for employees who file claims of sexual harassment-it is believed to be the largest such tech firm to make this notable change.

"The silencing of people's voices has clearly had an impact in perpetuating sexual harassment," Brad Smith, Microsoft's president and chief legal officer, told The New York Times on Tuesday. In a blog post, Smith also said that the company would support new federal legislation to end the use of arbitration in sexual harassment cases.

Like other industries in recent months, Silicon Valley has come to reckon with abuse amongst some of its most prominent corporations and people in an entirely new way. Some individuals who have been ousted this past year for alleged sexual misconduct include Shervin Pishevar, Robert Scoble, and Steve Jurvetson, among others.

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