"Judge allows gender-bias case against Microsoft to go ahead", 17 Oct 2016

A federal judge has denied Microsoft’s request to dismiss key claims of a class-action gender-discrimination suit against the company, allowing the case to proceed.  U.S. District Judge James Robart of Seattle said in an order Friday that three women suing Microsoft were specific enough in their claims and presented a plausible case that Microsoft’s pay and promotion practices had the effect of treating male and female engineers differently...Friday’s ruling hinged on the plaintiffs description of an important pillar of their case: Microsoft’s controversial former performance review system...That system, plaintiffs say, included subjective criteria, operated “in an environment overwhelmingly dominated by men,” and had the result of awarding fewer raises and promotions to women in engineering roles than their male counterparts...Microsoft says the review system was not arbitrary, and has denied the women’s allegations of discrimination...The next step in the case, document disclosure, is scheduled to continue through December...In August, the plaintiffs’ lawyers told the court that U.S. Labor Department investigators had found preliminary evidence of gender-based discrimination at the company, though it’s unclear what the behavior was or which Microsoft units the findings targeted. The company said at the time that it disagreed with the assessment.