Hundreds of Microsoft employees are calling on company executives to cancel its police contracts and support defunding the Seattle Police Department.
The letter, sent to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Executive Vice President Kurt DelBene via email on Monday, also asked the company to express support for a list of demands from Black Lives Matter’s Seattle branch.
A copy of the email obtained by OneZero indicated that the employees copied on the email “are either first-hand witnesses or direct victims to the inhumane responses of SPD to peaceful protesting,” referencing how the protests following George Floyd’s death are affecting employees’ health and well-being.
The letter compiled a list of ways Microsoft could help employees cope with the fallout from both the protests and the coronavirus pandemic. Because of the intensity of the current climate, it also requested leniency for performance reviews if worker productivity dips, as well as a four-day workweek policy.
In addition to canceling police contracts, the employees demanded that Microsoft executives condemn the use of tear gas, rubber bullets, and flashbangs, to increase employee donation matches, and to sign a petition calling for the resignation of Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan.
Nadella responded by saying the company needs to “do better” and that executives will examine the organization.
“I have heard from many employees over the past several days, expressing calls for action, calls for reflection, calls for change,” Nadella said. “My response is this: Yes. We have to act. And our actions must reflect the values of our company and be directly informed by the needs of the Black and African American community.”
The Seattle City Council is considering defunding its police department in the wake of Floyd’s death, which has put police brutality and systemic racism at the forefront of the national conversation. Some members of the council have proposed cutting the police budget in half and investing it in black communities, while others have sought to investigate how the department uses its yearly budget.
Floyd, an unarmed black man, died on May 25 after a white police officer in Minneapolis knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. The officer, Derek Chauvin, was charged with second-degree murder, while three other officers involved with Floyd’s detainment were charged with aiding and abetting murder.
