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Reflecting on one very, very strange year at Uber

susanjfowler.com

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Re: Reflecting on one very, very strange year at Uber

#61

Post by j_s »

grey-area wrote: post #38
twblalock wrote: post #2

If you are sexually harassed, and HR doesn't do anything about it, you should sue. Don't expect HR to change. If the stories in this article are true, and if the evidence is as strong as the article says it is, this is a slam-dunk case for sexual harassment, hostile work environment, retaliation, etc.

Suing would have lots of negative consequences, and few upsides. It would take up months of time, be immensely frustrating, stressful and lead other employers to be wary of you in future (even if most wouldn't admit it). Your name would be dragged through the mud by Uber in an attempt to derail the case, and you'd become an online target for haters (as with Ellen Pao). All for some uncertain monetary reward. Who need…

Companies such as Uber will continue these destructive behaviors until they face genuine consequences that impact their bottom line.

You have summarized a number of reasons why I would never ask anyone to volunteer to be the one to accomplish this.

This entire episode will hopefully shine some light on the true difficulties that need to be overcome to promote STEM diversity.

Re: Reflecting on one very, very strange year at Uber

#62

Post by powera »

elmar wrote: post #27
calcsam wrote: post #15

In case anyone isn't sure why the original interaction is harassment: relationships within a reporting chain are generally prohibited, for both legal, ethical, and practical reasons. Sex becoming part of the effective job description crosses both legal and ethical lines, and team effectiveness is hindered when people wonder whether someone is getting special treatment because they're sleeping with the boss. A manager…

I am shocked, how is possible to get away with this toxic company culture.

There is no pressure to change when they can continue to get billion-dollar handouts from Saudi billionaires no matter what happens.

Re: Reflecting on one very, very strange year at Uber

#63

Post by cyberferret »

shruubi wrote: post #42

As someone who is Australian and not American, if anything like this happened and HR failed in the trainwreck like manner that they did in this story, we have a government organisation that oversees and enforces workplace legislation. It seems insane to me that the only recourse you have after HR is basically "gather evidence and sue" which seems to be common advice in this thread.

True, as much as I sometimes hate the extra 'red tape' that the Australian Government puts upon businesses here, they do offer a pretty fair level of protection against employers abusing or unfairly treating employees.

It is pretty hard for a business here to dismiss an employee without reasonable grounds that would stand up in court - which of course, if it got to that level, means that the whole story would have to come out, so a situation like the one in this thread would have meant Uber being in a world of hurt while all their dirty laundry was aired in a court.

Re: Reflecting on one very, very strange year at Uber

#64

Post by [deleted] »

jackweirdy wrote: post #13

> The HR rep began the meeting by asking me if I had noticed that I was the common theme in all of the reports I had been making That's such a meaningless thing for an HR person to ask someone, that it clearly only serves to be patronising and hopefully stop them bringing problems up. I mean, how could you as an HR staffer possibly justify your inaction with an argument like that? "We didn't act on any of their compl…

[deleted]

Re: Reflecting on one very, very strange year at Uber

#65

Post by sampl »

jackweirdy wrote: post #13

> The HR rep began the meeting by asking me if I had noticed that I was the common theme in all of the reports I had been making That's such a meaningless thing for an HR person to ask someone, that it clearly only serves to be patronising and hopefully stop them bringing problems up. I mean, how could you as an HR staffer possibly justify your inaction with an argument like that? "We didn't act on any of their compl…

I laughed out loud at this one--that's some first-class ass-backwards reasoning...

Re: Reflecting on one very, very strange year at Uber

#66

Post by dkarapetyan »

Susan is ~an industry veteran~ a somewhat experienced engineer and her interactions with HR are typical of what I've seen so I would have expected her to know how things would play out. In my experience HR is never there to protect the employees. HR is there to make sure the company doesn't get into any hot legal waters.

Most of the time the easiest way to do that is to just suppress any wrongdoing and sideline whoever is being wronged. That's exactly how things played out in her story. Once again solidifying my opinion of HR being a company instead of an employee protector. If you see any wrongdoing then just get a lawyer. Never go to HR.

Edit: Folks are right. She is not an industry veteran. Incorrect assumption on my part.

Re: Reflecting on one very, very strange year at Uber

#67

Post by cobookman »

throwaway_374 wrote: post #25

To show our solidarity against this kind of behaviour by corporate, we should all crowd fund your lawyer's fees and teach Uber a big fucking lesson really blow it out of the water. Really stick it to them. I'll happily begin contributions. edit: rather pathetic with all the male chauvanistic Uber engineers on here downvoting away.

Why crowd fund. Given the author's story, if true there would be lots of lawyers lined up to take the case for a percentage of damages or for publicity. Especially if this turns class action.

Re: Reflecting on one very, very strange year at Uber

#69

Post by logandavis »

By all indications, Uber has a toxic work culture that costs them both top talent and organizational velocity.

I'm a college senior at a well-regarded engineering school. My CS classmates - especially women - simply do not apply to Uber, in large part because of its reputation for internal misogyny and general assholery. Four classmates interned there last summer, and as far as I know none are interested in returning. A friend of mine was actually warned off by her software engineer father. I've heard stories from friends who've worked there that corroborate Susan's tales of infighting teams and inexplicable reorganizations due to high-level backstabbing. The one woman I know who works there wants out. Susan is a high-profile and credible source; hopefully her post takes Uber's work culture issues from "open secret" to "problem that has public consequences for the company".

The CEO should crack down and take serious steps towards addressing this problem - not just for PR, but because his company is seriously suffering as a result of these issues. Unfortunately for Uber, from what I've heard, Travis is part of the problem as far as Game-of-Thrones internal politics and backstabbing goes. His "move fast and break things" persona sounds like a poor model for subordinates. Between that and the company's relative external success, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for anything internal to get better any time soon.

Until it does, I simply hope that my acquaintances at Uber find somewhere less shitty to work.

Re: Reflecting on one very, very strange year at Uber

#70

Post by moocow01 »

pvg wrote: post #40

For all the people saying 'HR works for the company' and 'She should have sued!', I think you're underestimating how difficult that is to do. You're reading the account of a person who was clearly perfectly aware of her rights and how corporate workspaces operate. What would you actually do in their position? You leave work one evening, go home and google 'lawyer that will get me lots of money from my company and wor…

No - employee lawsuits are not that uncommon. The vast majority are settled before they see the inside of courtroom. The majority that do go to a courtroom go the employees way unfortunately for employers in frivolous cases. Talking to a labour law attorney to consult about your case is not that expensive - if you have an open and shut case most lawyers will want to work on a contingency fee anyways.
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