A group of Microsoft employees met CEO Satya Nadella on Thursday to protest the firm's treatment of women and asked Nadella to address sexual harassment claims, Wired reported.

Around 100 to 150 employees attended the Q&A in person while others watched via livestream, said the report.

Nadella, in response to the concerns, expressed his sadness and disappointment and promised employees additional transparency, Wired reported.

The catalyst for the online discussion and subsequent protest was an email posted to a distribution list for female employees in late March, according to copies of the discussion viewed by Wired.

In the online discussion, as per the report, one woman who worked in engineering said that a man who worked for a partner company threatened to kill her during a business trip several years ago if she did not perform an unnamed sexual act.

Another woman wrote that she had been asked to sit in someone’s lap twice during a business meeting where HR and other executives were present. No one objected, the report said.