Business Insider reports that Alex Kipman, one of Microsoft's top tech specialists, who is head of HoloLens is leaving the company following allegations of verbal abuse and sexual harassment.
There is no official confirmation from Microsoft yet, but GeekWire was able to access an internal email from Scott Guthrie, head of the Microsoft Cloud & AI Group, which states the following:
Over the last several months, Alex Kipman and I have been talking about the team’s path going forward. We have mutually decided that this is the right time for him to leave the company to pursue other opportunities
Reportedly, more than 25 employees are contributed to Kipman's misconduct report. According to sources, employees complained about incidents of unwanted touches, as well as the fact that he once allegedly watched an obscene VR video in front of employees in the office.
TheVerge points that one of the former Microsoft executive named the COVID-19 outbreak a positive factor: “The best thing that happened, sadly, was the pandemic, so we never had to interact with him in person.”
Alex Kimpan will be at Microsoft for two more months to complete the handover. The Redmond firm will reorganize the HoloLens team and make it part of the Windows + Devices division led by Panos Panay.
You may remember that arlier Business Insider already reported that chaos reigns in the HoloLens team, which makes Microsoft cancel HoloLens 3. Reportedly, more than 70 employees of the HoloLens team left Microsoft, and more than 40 of them joined Meta. Kipman then denied this information on Twitter.
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