Microsoft Fires Employee Protestors Who Disrupted 50th Anniversary Event: 'You Have Shown No Remorse For The Effect That Your Actions Have'

Microsoft Corp. MSFT has reportedly fired two employees who disrupted the tech giant's 50th-anniversary event on Friday after protesting the company's contracts with Israel and accusing its AI CEO of war profiteering.

What Happened: Ibtihal Aboussad and Vaniya Agrawal, both Microsoft employees, staged protests during the company's high-profile 50th-anniversary event in Redmond, Washington.

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In an email sent to Aboussad, Microsoft condemned the disruption as “misconduct” and stated that Aboussad’s actions, including “finger-pointing” and shouting at Mustafa Suleyman, were inappropriate and aggressive enough to warrant being escorted out by security, reported The Verge.

The company described Aboussad’s actions as “designed to gain notoriety and cause maximum disruption” and noted that the protester had shown no remorse for the consequences of her actions. "You have shown no remorse for the effect that your actions have had and will have," the email read.

Aboussad was fired by Microsoft Canada, while Agrawal, who had already submitted her resignation, was let go shortly after the protest. 

Microsoft previously responded to Benzinga’s request for comments, saying, “We provide many avenues for all voices to be heard. Importantly, we ask that this be done in a way that does not cause a business disruption. If that happens, we ask participants to relocate. We are committed to ensuring our business practices uphold the highest standards.”

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Why It's Important: Aboussad interrupted a speech by Suleyman, calling him a “war profiteer” and demanding that Microsoft stop using AI for “genocide in our region.”

On the other hand, Agrawal disrupted the event later by confronting Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, former CEO Steve Ballmer, and current CEO Satya Nadella.

Both employees belong to “No Azure for Apartheid,” a group of Microsoft employees who have been rallying against the company's involvement with the Israeli government, the report noted.

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