Gender discrimination: Microsoft pays over 1m pound
Sep 19, 2011, 05.32PM IS
Microsoft paid over one million pounds to silence a female executive
who was unfairly overlooked for the role of managing director
LONDON: Software company Microsoft paid over one million pounds to silence a female executive who was unfairly overlooked for the role of managing director at the firm in Britain.
Natalie Ayres, who worked at Microsoft for 15 years, was seen as an outstanding candidate to become the general manager of its "Small-Medium Enterprises and Partners Group".
Ayres, a married mother, was widely tipped to succeed Alistair Baker as managing director of Microsoft UK when the position became vacant in the summer of 2006, the Telegraph reports.
But the role was handed to Gordon Frazer, a general manager at Microsoft South Africa, allegedly before Ayres had even finished the interview process.
Microsoft sources revealed that Ayres left at the end of the year with a "compromise agreement" that ran into seven figures.
Her departure angered some Microsoft employees who felt she had been unfairly treated.
"They management do not follow procedure enough and if your face doesn't fit, you suffer. It's a boys' club. The only way to progress beyond a certain point is to become a male in female clothing," the paper quoted a source, as saying.
"Although women compete on an equal basis further down the organization, they hit a glass ceiling at around "level 65 or above," the source added.
Microsoft and Ayres both have declined to comment on the matter.
Natalie Ayres, who worked at Microsoft for 15 years, was seen as an outstanding candidate to become the general manager of its "Small-Medium Enterprises and Partners Group".
Ayres, a married mother, was widely tipped to succeed Alistair Baker as managing director of Microsoft UK when the position became vacant in the summer of 2006, the Telegraph reports.
But the role was handed to Gordon Frazer, a general manager at Microsoft South Africa, allegedly before Ayres had even finished the interview process.
Microsoft sources revealed that Ayres left at the end of the year with a "compromise agreement" that ran into seven figures.
Her departure angered some Microsoft employees who felt she had been unfairly treated.
"They management do not follow procedure enough and if your face doesn't fit, you suffer. It's a boys' club. The only way to progress beyond a certain point is to become a male in female clothing," the paper quoted a source, as saying.
"Although women compete on an equal basis further down the organization, they hit a glass ceiling at around "level 65 or above," the source added.
Microsoft and Ayres both have declined to comment on the matter.
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