Microsoft’s Bias

• In January 2001, seven of Microsoft's former and current

African-Americans employees filed a discrimination suit
against the company. One of the largest discrimination suits
ever filed in the US, it alleged racism and plantation
mentality at their workspace and sought $ 5 billion in
damages. Microsoft was accused of discriminating against
its employees through performance evaluations, pay
packages, promotions, wrongful terminations and
retaliation. This suit consolidated all the discriminatory suits
filed separately by the seven employees.

• Thus, all the former and current African-American salaried

employees employed by Microsoft (in the US) on or after
October 4, 1997 and all the former and present female
salaried employees employed by Microsoft on or after
February 23, 1999 were included in the suit.
• The plaintiff claimed that Microsoft's employment policies
and practices permit its managers to exercise discretion
when deciding on evaluations, pay packages, promotions
and job selections, resulting in decisions that reveal a
race/gender bias. During the early 1990s, many
discrimination related suits had been filed against Microsoft.
The plaintiff also alleged that Microsoft discriminated
against the Black and female workers by paying them
smaller salaries, bonuses and stock options than it paid
white males performing the same work. The suit also
alleged that Microsoft had even retaliated against Black and
female employees who protested against this
discrimination.
• Reacting to increasing media coverage of lawsuits filed
against it, Microsoft claimed that the company did not
tolerate employee discrimination and was focused on
offering unbiased treatment to employees and promoting
women and members of minority groups in its organization.
However, few people bought their story. Willie Gray, one of
the leading attorneys dealing in discrimination suits, argued
that Microsoft showed plantation attitude when it came to
dealing with African-American workers. Gray remarked that
in 1999, only 2.6% of the Microsoft's employees and only
1.6% of its managers were Black. Throughout the 1980s and
early 1990s, Microsoft remained in the news for
discriminating against women and African-Americans.
• Many cases of both sexual harassment and discrimination
against female employees were reported.
• Though the issue of racial discrimination arose in the late
1990s, it was only in 2000 that the employees initiated legal
 Hyundai Motor Co
• Hyundai Motor Co., formed in 1967, was a part of the large
South Korean Chaebol - the Hyundai Group - until the group
split in September 2000. In the last four decades, Hyundai
managed to establish itself all over the world as a company
producing reliable, technically sound and stylish
automobiles.

In the 90s, the company started aggressive overseas

expansion programs. By the late 90s, when Southeast Asian
crisis struck, the company like all the other chaebols, faced
serious financial problems. To survive, it had to cut its
labour force. The company offered various retirement
schemes, unpaid leave for two years, etc. to workers, and
expressed its inability to support its entire workforce in the
slack period.
• The unions refused to compromise and the management
 Labour Problems in the Late 1990s
• The slump in the South Korean economy in late 1990s was
bound to have an effect on Hyundai also. The automobile
segment was among the first to be hit by the downslide in
the economy. The domestic automobile sector had negative
growth of almost 55% in 1998 compared to the previous
year.

Hyundai was responsible for almost 50% of total automobile

production in South Korea and was therefore badly hit. The
domestic sales of the company fell by 55% in the year 1998
and its exports crashed by 74 percent to only 15,056 units .
Hyundai recorded a 200 billion won loss in 1998.
• According to company officials, Hyundai's six assembly
plants with a yearly production capacity of 1.65 million
vehicles, were operating at only 40 percent of their
capacity. In May, 1998, Hyundai reacted to this grim
situation by announcing plans to lay off 27 percent of its
46,000 workforce in South Korea and to cut pay bonuses
• Unfortunately for the management of the company,
Hyundai had one of the most powerful and militant unions.
The decision of the company to lay off workers sparked off
agitations not only in Hyundai but in other companies too.
The unions were particularly offended at the government's
approval of Hyundai's decision.

In a demonstration in Ulsan, where Hyundai has its biggest

automobile plant, 32,000 employees participated in rallies.
All across South Korea almost 1,20,000 employees from
about 125 companies participated in demonstrations
against Hyundai and the government's decision. The
government had to deploy nearly 20,000 riot police to
control the demonstrators...