Like other major tech companies, Microsoft’s employment practices are under scrutiny following a class action lawsuit. The case, Moussouris v. Microsoft Corporation Case No. 15 cv 1483 was originally filed by attorneys in 2015 and alleges the company engaged in systematic and pervasive discrimination against female employees in technical and engineering jobs.
Although the case is still ongoing, an article released last month reported that Notice of Violation (NOV) documents were released by OFCCP, which caused a stir in the contractor community. This, however, was not the case, and was most likely misinterpreted by the press. The plaintiff’s attorney noted in the filing that it was Microsoft who supplied the redacted copies of the notices.
A notice of violation is typically issued when OFCCP believes there are technical violations or that evidence of systemic discrimination exists. OFCCP sends these notices to the company and cannot make them public. Although a signed conciliation agreement or consent decree can be requested through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), an NOV cannot.
By Yesenia Avila, Associate Consultant, and Joanna Colosimo, Associate Principal Consultant, at DCI Consulting Group
