Microsoft Fires 4 Workers Following Protests, ‘Occupations’
A total of four Microsoft workers have now been fired following their roles in various protests recent at the company's Redmond, WA campus.
Several workers 'occupied' the office of the company president.
Multiple sources are reporting some of the fired workers include those who engaged in what they claimed was a sit-in in President Brad Smith's Office, others were involved in the recent vandalism outside the complex where red paint was spilled on the Microsoft sign, supposedly to simulate blood.
Company officials called the 'sit-in' an occupation because the workers refused to leave.
The anti-Isreal and anti-Semitic protests are against the sale of Microsoft technology to Israel, which the protestors claim is being used against Palestine.
Authorities said they found what they described as listening devices inside Smith's Office, but several of the protestors said they were their cellphones that were allegedly dropped during their arrests. However, investigators said one of the phones was found on a table or cornerstand behind a plant.
Several of these office occupiers resisted security, and were eventually removed by Redmond Police, and outside other protestors were briefly able to raise a Palestinian flag before being subdued and arrested, and the flag was taken down. Company officials said these recent protestors violated Microsoft policies, and they failed to follow the rules to create a safe work environment.
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