Key Points:
- Salesforce and Slack filed a lawsuit against Microsoft in London on April 23.
- The legal team accuses Microsoft of unfairly tying its Teams app to other software.
- Slack previously filed a similar antitrust complaint with the European Commission in 2020.
- A UK tribunal also approved a separate mass lawsuit against Microsoft for overcharging businesses.
Salesforce and its workplace messaging company Slack are taking Microsoft to court. The companies filed a lawsuit at London’s High Court on April 23. They accuse the technology giant of using illegal tactics to crush competition. Specifically, they claim Microsoft forces customers to take its Teams communication app when they buy other software. The legal action marks a major escalation in the ongoing fight between the two business software rivals.
A spokesperson for Slack explained the reasoning behind the legal action. They stated that Microsoft harms the open market and punishes smaller companies. By bundling Teams with popular software like Word and Excel, Microsoft limits customers’ choices. Slack argues this strategy makes it nearly impossible for standalone messaging apps to compete fairly. Microsoft did not answer immediate requests for comment on the London lawsuit.
This legal fight did not start overnight. The rivalry between Slack and Microsoft goes back several years. When office workers around the world went home to work in 2020, companies desperately needed ways for their staff to communicate. Slack offered a popular chat program that millions of people used daily. Microsoft quickly pushed Teams to capture the same group of corporate customers and dominate the new remote-work economy.
Frustrations reached a boiling point a few years ago. In 2020, Slack took its complaints straight to the European Commission. The messaging company accused Microsoft of breaking the law by automatically including Teams inside the Office product package. Slack told regulators that Microsoft used its massive control over office software to give Teams an unfair head start against competitors. They demanded a level playing field where companies compete on software quality.
That European complaint eventually forced Microsoft to change its business plans. Last year, the software maker reached an agreement with the European Commission. To avoid a massive financial penalty, which could have reached up to 10% of its global revenue, Microsoft promised to split Teams away from its core Office products. The company created new pricing tiers. These new rules offered Office software at a lower price to businesses that did not want or need the Teams application.
Despite the European agreement, Salesforce and Slack clearly feel the damage still exists. They brought the fight across the English Channel to the United Kingdom. By filing this new case in London, they open a fresh legal front against Microsoft. The UK operates outside the European Union, meaning the companies need separate rulings from British judges to enforce fair competition rules there. Slack wants to ensure Microsoft faces consequences in every major market.
Microsoft actually faces multiple legal headaches in Britain right now. The Slack lawsuit arrived during a very bad week for the Windows maker. During the same week, London’s Competition Appeal Tribunal advanced a completely different case against the company. The tribunal officially certified a mass lawsuit that represents thousands of British companies. This legal action targets a completely different part of Microsoft’s massive software empire.
This second lawsuit focuses on cloud computing instead of office messaging. The plaintiffs allege that Microsoft overcharged British businesses that wanted to use Windows Server software. Specifically, they claim Microsoft unfairly raised prices for companies that chose to run the software on cloud platforms owned by Microsoft’s rivals, such as Amazon or Google. The lawsuit argues that this pricing strategy forced businesses to pay a steep penalty simply for choosing a non-Microsoft cloud provider.
Microsoft firmly disputes the allegations in the cloud computing case. The company claims its pricing rules remain fair and strictly follow the law. However, the tribunal’s decision means the massive class-action lawsuit will move forward to trial. This exposes Microsoft to potentially huge financial damages. If the court ultimately sides with the British businesses, Microsoft might have to pay over $1 billion in refunds and penalties.
Both lawsuits highlight a growing global push to control how massive technology companies operate. Regulators, competitors, and customers alike are pushing back against big software bundles and restrictive software licenses. For Salesforce and Slack, the ultimate goal remains crystal clear. They want businesses to choose their messaging tools based on quality and features, rather than simply accepting whatever chat application comes pre-installed on their work computers.
