1 week Ago By Kahekashan
Microsoft has terminated the employment of one of its staff members following aprotest at the company’s 50th anniversary celebration. In an internal emailreviewed by The Verge, Microsoft stated that Ibtihal Aboussad was letgo due to "acts of misconduct." Aboussad was one of two employees who disrupted the milestone event lastFriday, publicly confronting Microsoft’s AI Chief, Mustafa Suleyman, andaccusing him of unethical practices.
During the protest, she called Suleyman a“war profiteer” and urged the company to “stop using AI for genocide in ourregion.” A second employee, Vaniya Agrawal, later interrupted a sessionfeaturing Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, and current CEO Satya Nadella with asimilar message. Both individuals had also sent mass emails to thousands of co-workers,advocating for Microsoft to end its contracts with the Israeli government.
According to the termination email sent to Aboussad, her actions during theevent were described as aggressive and inappropriate. “Earlier today, youinterrupted a speech by Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman during the Company’s50th anniversary event in Redmond, Seattle, by yelling and finger-pointing atthe CEO before a live audience of thousands of attendees, and making hostile,unprovoked, and highly inappropriate accusations against the CEO, the Companyand Microsoft generally,” the message stated. “While the CEO remained calm andattempted to de-escalate the matter, your conduct was so aggressive that youhad to be escorted out of the room by security.
”� View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Verge (@verge) Microsoft Canada officially terminated Aboussad on the day of the incident,while Agrawal was reportedly dismissed shortly after submitting her two-weeks’notice. Both individuals are connected with No Azure for Apartheid, amovement within Microsoft urging the company to sever ties with Israel. “The company has concluded that your misconduct was designed to gain notorietyand cause maximum disruption to this highly anticipated event,” the email toAboussad reads.
“It is also concerning that you have not apologized to thecompany, and in fact you have shown no remorse for the effect that your actionshave had and will have.”.
