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Scammed By A Silicon Valley Startup

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Re: Scammed By A Silicon Valley Startup

#411
post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Name and shame" feels good but there's a huge danger in pillorying people just based on a single person's account. WrkRiot seems to be the company in question and their online presence is so laughable nobody here likely feels bad for making fun of them, especially because of the behaviour the author describes. But the story is not just about a company but also about individuals. Consider WrkRiot's head of marketing,…

It should be noted that the criminal justice system is not there to give justice to individuals. The district attorney functions as the representative of state interests. If you are a victim of medical malpractice, the district attorney will not find healing for you. If someone wrongfully injures you, a criminal case will not return even an inch of your wholesomeness. If someone cheats or robs you of $50k, the distri…

> If you are a victim of medical malpractice, the district attorney will not find healing for you. If someone wrongfully injures you, a criminal case will not return even an inch of your wholesomeness. If someone cheats or robs you of $50k, the district attorney will not help you pay your bills.

This is not entirely true. While the general civil/criminal purpose distinction you make is broadly correct, there are provisions for "restitution" within the criminal court system that overlap substantially with the compensatory function of the civil court system, so its not accurate to say that the DA will not help you recover funds or that a criminal case will not restore your losses.

See, e.g., http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/victim_services/docs/restitution_guid...

Re: Scammed By A Silicon Valley Startup

#412

lol, WrkRiot just posted this response https://www.facebook.com/WrkRiot/?hc_ref=SEARCH&fref=nf WrkRiot is considering legal action against a disgruntled former employee who has launched a slanderous campaign against WrkRiot and some of its employees via social media. While it is not our policy to discuss personnel matters, we want to make it clear that this former employee was fired for cause. Signed affidavits from…

"The racist, sexist and abusive comments our employees have received are inexcusable."

I find it amusing what people come up with when trying to wriggle out of the shitstorms they create.

Re: Scammed By A Silicon Valley Startup

#413

The fake wire transfer receipt is fraud. That's a criminal offense. Have a talk with the local DA. California has a large prison system, with cell space available. I've never heard of a startup going that far.

Apparently, the company posted on their facebook that they are taking legal action against OP as: "a disgruntled former employee who has launched a slanderous campaign against WrkRiot and some of its employees via social media". https://www.facebook.com/WrkRiot/

They just took down the facebook page

edit: its back up

Re: Scammed By A Silicon Valley Startup

#414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently, the company posted on their facebook that they are taking legal action against OP as: "a disgruntled former employee who has launched a slanderous campaign against WrkRiot and some of its employees via social media". https://www.facebook.com/WrkRiot/

They just took down the facebook page edit: its back up

Haha wow here is what they wrote before they took it down http://imgur.com/a/Tf5bM

Re: Scammed By A Silicon Valley Startup

#415

Clicked on this expecting to see another millennial self entitled "why I left" rant, but found a well written, horrifying article on deception and underhanded shenanigans. The CEO of this startup qualifies be listed under the other discussion on here about psychopaths running companies.

Odd, I've never come across a rant like that. But I do seem to see self satisfied "millennial" bashing pretty often. (I don't think I'll ever understand this impulse to ascribe vague personality traits to broad groups of people across a large number of birth years.)

[deleted]

Re: Scammed By A Silicon Valley Startup

#416

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you please link to one of those posts so that we may read one?

https://medium.com/@taliajane/an-open-letter-to-my-ceo-fb73d... I'm almost certain that this is the post he had in mind while writing this comment.

That would be a categorical error as Talia did not leave Yelp.

Re: Scammed By A Silicon Valley Startup

#417

lol, WrkRiot just posted this response https://www.facebook.com/WrkRiot/?hc_ref=SEARCH&fref=nf WrkRiot is considering legal action against a disgruntled former employee who has launched a slanderous campaign against WrkRiot and some of its employees via social media. While it is not our policy to discuss personnel matters, we want to make it clear that this former employee was fired for cause. Signed affidavits from…

At the same time, Penny is not the brightest bulb in the world. I don't see what she gains from exposing the company. The downside is huge from the potential lawsuits and virility of the post unless she plans to somehow monetize the audience. I guess she could start a gofundme to pay for legal fees

Re: Scammed By A Silicon Valley Startup

#418
I don't think that anyone with such a low IQ would be able to even incorporate the company not to hire people. There are many inconsistencies in the article (related to visas & investors) and characters seem unlikely to exist. The author did a great job of shaping and creating the story in order to attract attention.

What actually happened: Penny Kim created "the company", "founders", "employees", "website", etc.

Apparently in her last tweet she's looking for a job: https://twitter.com/PennyKim/status/770398267293048832

Re: Scammed By A Silicon Valley Startup

#419
post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is it that an "H1B with little experience" is even possible, then?

Legally, all you have to do is post a job offering on some dark corner of the internet for your job that pays a fair market wage. If you can't hire anyone for a specific period, you get to look for an H1-B! The problem is that "fair market wage" is actually defined legally by congress. That wage for IT related jobs is barely enough to make a proper middle-class living in a metal trailer 2 hours outside of Las Vegas,…

That sounds more like the process of applying for a Labor Certificate, as part of a green card. For an H-1B you just need an approved Labor Condition Application, which attests that you're offering the "prevailing wage" for the region/occupation, and (I think) that there's a general shortage of that occupation in the region (and not that you had no US citizen replies to your specific job advert)

Re: Scammed By A Silicon Valley Startup

#420

I don't think that anyone with such a low IQ would be able to even incorporate the company not to hire people. There are many inconsistencies in the article (related to visas & investors) and characters seem unlikely to exist. The author did a great job of shaping and creating the story in order to attract attention. What actually happened: Penny Kim created "the company", "founders", "employees", "website", etc. App…

except:

https://medium.com/@dtunkelang/lesson-learned-ab0dc6723b8c#....

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