Microsoft said on August 27, 2025, that it had fired two employees who were among seven people arrested the previous day after occupying company President Brad Smith’s office at its Redmond, Washington, headquarters. Microsoft cited policy and code-of-conduct violations; the protest group No Azure for Apartheid said the dismissals punished opposition to the company’s work with Israel. The firings did not settle the underlying dispute over reported Israeli military use of Microsoft cloud services.
What happened at Microsoft’s Redmond headquarters?
On August 26, 2025, seven protesters entered and occupied Smith’s office at Microsoft’s headquarters. The group included two current Microsoft employees as well as other people, according to reports. Police arrested all seven on allegations including trespassing and obstruction; some accounts also reported resisting arrest. The incident prompted a security response and temporary lockdown at the building. The Associated Press reported on the arrests and occupation, while TechCrunch covered the lockdown.
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Smith later described the episode as a security breach, distinguishing it from ordinary workplace protest. He objected to protesters entering a secure area, occupying his office, blocking access and allegedly placing phones around the room. The phones were part of Smith’s account; available reporting does not establish that they were confirmed listening devices. GeekWire reported Smith’s comments.
Why did Microsoft fire the employees?
Microsoft said the two employees were fired for serious breaches of company policies and its code of conduct. Its stated rationale was their conduct in connection with the office occupation and its security implications, not their political viewpoint. That is the company’s position, not a legal finding about the reason for the dismissals.
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No Azure for Apartheid identified the employees as Anna Hattle and Riki Fameli. The names have been reported through the group’s statements; Microsoft did not independently identify them in the reporting cited here. The group said the employees’ Microsoft accounts were disabled and that they learned of their terminations through voicemails, which it said did not give detailed explanations of the specific policy violations. Those details are the organizers’ account. Reuters reported on the firings and the group’s response; CBS News also covered Microsoft’s stated rationale.
No court or labor-agency ruling establishing whether the firings were lawful is identified in the available reporting. The fact that the protest concerned workplace issues does not, by itself, establish that the employees’ actions were legally protected or that Microsoft violated labor law.
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What were protesters objecting to?
No Azure for Apartheid and other activists were protesting Microsoft’s commercial and technical ties to Israel, including allegations that the Israeli military used Azure to store or process Palestinian phone-call data. The controversy became prominent after an investigation by The Guardian, +972 Magazine and Local Call. The Guardian’s August 6, 2025, report described alleged use of Azure by an Israeli military intelligence unit for data connected to Palestinians’ calls in Gaza and the West Bank.
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Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →It is important to separate the reported technical use from claims about consequences. The investigation linked the data system to surveillance operations; activists have argued that such systems can support military targeting. The reporting does not, on its own, establish that Microsoft technology caused a particular attack or civilian death, or determine Microsoft’s responsibility for a specific downstream use. Microsoft has said it lacked complete visibility into how its technology was used on private government systems and qualified parts of the allegations. Smith called the reporting fair while saying some claims required further testing, according to GeekWire.
What review did Microsoft announce?
Microsoft said it had commissioned Covington & Burling LLP to conduct an external review of allegations concerning the Israeli military’s use of its technology. The company’s announcement came after the investigative reporting and amid employee protests. The announcement itself does not establish whether the allegations were confirmed or disproved. Nor does the available information establish that the review covered every Microsoft product, contract, military application or possible downstream harm. Microsoft’s related filing is available here.
How did the firings fit into a wider pattern?
The August office occupation was one in a series of Microsoft employee protests over the company’s Israel-related work. The incidents were separate, and the people involved were not all participants in the Redmond occupation.
| Date | Reported event |
|---|---|
| April 2025 | Microsoft fired two employees after they disrupted the company’s 50th-anniversary celebration. |
| May 2025 | Microsoft fired an employee who interrupted a speech by CEO Satya Nadella. |
| August 26, 2025 | Seven protesters occupied Smith’s office in Redmond; police arrested all seven. |
| August 27, 2025 | Microsoft said it had fired the two current employees involved in the occupation. |
| August 28, 2025 | Reports said Microsoft had fired two additional employees involved in related on-campus protests, bringing the reported total connected to the recent demonstrations to four. |
The sequence puts the office occupation within a broader conflict over employee activism and company discipline, but does not establish that Microsoft applied its rules selectively. The occupation involved seven people, only two of whom were identified in reporting as current Microsoft employees.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsWhat changed later in Microsoft’s relationship with Israel?
A Microsoft-related securities filing dated September 25, 2025, reported cancellation of a specific contract with the Israeli military while also stating that Microsoft continued to work with Israel as a client. That is not evidence that the company ended all business with Israeli government or military entities. The filing does not make the employee firings a resolution of the separate questions about Azure, surveillance, customer oversight or corporate responsibility.
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