Microsoft opens workplace inquiry

Microsoft said Thursday it is opening an inquiry into how it responds to workplace sexual harassment and gender discrimination, including its handling of allegations about co-founder Bill Gates.

The review is a response to pressure from Microsoft investors. Nearly 78% of shareholders at Microsoft’s Nov. 30 annual meeting voted to demand more accountability from the company in responding to workplace sexual harassment complaints.

“We’re committed not just to reviewing the report but learning from the assessment so we can continue to improve the experiences of our employees,” said CEO Satya Nadella in a statement.

The Wall Street Journal reported last year that Microsoft’s board hired a law firm to look into Gates in 2019 after a Microsoft engineer alleged in a letter that she had a sexual relationship with Gates over several years. Gates resigned from the board in 2020.

Feds greenlight teenage truckers

DETROIT – The federal government is moving forward with a plan to let teenagers drive big rigs from state to state in a test program.

Currently, truckers who cross state lines must be at least 21 years old, but an apprenticeship program required by Congress to help ease supply chain backlogs would let 18-to-20-year-old truckers drive outside their home states.

The pilot program, detailed Thursday in a proposed regulation from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, would screen the teens, barring any with driving-while-impaired violations or traffic tickets for causing a crash.

But safety advocates say the program runs counter to data showing that younger drivers get in more crashes than older ones.

From wire reports

They say it’s unwise to let teenage drivers be responsible for rigs that can weigh 80,000 pounds and cause catastrophic damage when they hit lighter vehicles.