A senior executive said Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) thoroughly investigates issues raised by women in the workplace and fired about 20 employees last year over complaints of sexual harassment as the company seeks to counter claims that it treats female workers unfairly.  In an email to employees publicly released late on Thursday, Microsoft Chief People Officer Kathleen Hogan said Microsoft had 83 harassment complaints in 2017 out of a U.S.-based workforce of over 65,000 employees.  Nearly 50 percent were found to be supported at least in part following an investigation, she said, and more than half of those resulted in the termination of an employee who engaged in unacceptable behavior.  The unusual publication of such data comes as the world’s largest software company is defending a lawsuit which alleges it systematically denied pay raises or promotions to women.  Microsoft denies it has ever had such a policy...Microsoft also investigated 84 complaints of gender discrimination last year, Hogan said, and found around 10 percent of those to be supported at least in part...Hogan’s email...said the numbers cited by plaintiffs were misleading...Hogan’s email did not provide additional figures about the time period cited in the court documents...