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If you didn’t know October is Women’s Small Business Month? Someone should have told Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who spent most of last week backpedaling from comments he made during an interview last week where when asked about women not getting promotions. Specifically he said,

“…All HR systems are long-term efficient, short-term inefficient.  And I thought that phrase just captured it. Which is…it’s not really about asking for the raise but knowing and having faith that the system will actually give you the right raises as you go long.  And that I think might be one of the additional “superpowers,” that quite frankly, women who don’t ask for a raise have. Because that’s good karma. “

That is right Microsoft’s CEO would like the hard working women of the world in corporate America to depend on Karma to fix gender inequality in workplace compensation. No offense, but that is well such total bullshit. As a women I am totally offended. As a lawyer, I feel obliged to tell you that if your employer is systematically giving raises to equally or less qualified male counterparts there maybe good legal recourse as an alternative to Nadella’s karma route. As an entrepreneur I believe this to be so unbelievable stupid of Satya Nadella. I mean way to alienate over 50% of the population and at least half of your potential consumers. He is supposed to be the CEO of a Tech Company? Does he not understand social media? Does he not know his comments are going to go viral and pretty much haunt him forever? Maybe Microsoft should consider replacing him with a woman. I am sure there are plenty of good candidates out there, especially if Karma has anything to do with it.

To read more about Nadella’s Comments see: Forbes Magazine