(CNN) – Microsoft’s human resources chief said the company fired about 20 employees for sexual harassment complaints over the course of a year.
Kathleen Hogan made the assertion in a memo to employees.
According to the memo, the company received 83 sexual harassment claims in the U.S. from July 2016 through June 2017.
Hogan wrote that nearly half of the complaints were supported, and over half of those led to an employee being fired for unacceptable behavior.
It’s an attempt by Microsoft to push back against the idea that the company doesn’t take harassment and discrimination complaints seriously enough.
That criticism was sparked by claims in a lawsuit filed by a former employee.
The document faults Microsoft’s alleged handling of 238 harassment and discrimination complaints filed by female employees between 2010 and 2016.
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