The board announced that it had chosen Arent Fox, a firm based in Washington, D.C. Microsoft stated that it had never done any employment-related work for the company in the past.
During the company's 2021 annual meeting, shareholders approved a resolution to review the policies Microsoft has in place to protect its employees from abuse and unwanted sexual advances.
The resolution was approved by nearly 78 percent of Microsoft shareholders. It was the only one of five shareholder proposals on ethical issues to be approved. Others, such as a request for a report on the company's racial and gender pay disparities and a pledge to prohibit sales of facial recognition technology to government entities, were unsuccessful.
The resolution stated, "Microsoft is under intense public scrutiny due to numerous claims of sexual harassment and an alleged failure to address them adequately and transparently." "Reports of Bill Gates' inappropriate relationships and sexual advances toward Microsoft employees have only heightened concerns, calling into question top leadership's culture and the board's role in holding those responsible accountable."
According to reports in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Gates solicited at least two employees while running Microsoft. In one instance, in 2007, Mr. Gates sat through a Microsoft employee's presentation before emailing her to request a date. Microsoft executives later warned Mr. Gates not to do anything like that again. Microsoft's board of directors received a letter in 2019 from an engineer claiming to have had a sexual relationship with Mr. Gates in 2000. Mr. Gates' spokeswoman confirmed that the two had an affair that "ended amicably."
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in a statement on Thursday that workplace culture was the company's "number one priority."
"We're committed not just to reviewing the report, but also to learning from the assessment so that we can continue to improve our employees' experiences," he said.