Reflecting on one very, very strange year at Uber • Hacker News Board

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

#91

Post by brudgers » Sun, Feb 19, 2017, 10:13 PM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #44

What's with all the 'this is unbelievable' comments here? This is absolutely believable, Uber has pretty much made it their standard to break the laws where-ever they can, why should work place conduct be any different? In for a penny, in for a pound. You'd never hear something even close to this from Stripe or some other company run by upstanding folks. Fish rots from the head.

If taking a billion dollars from the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia says something about a company's stance regarding women's equality, what it says is not terribly inconsistent with Fowler's story.

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

#92

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Feb 19, 2017, 10:13 PM UTC

[deleted]

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

#93

Post by karussell » Sun, Feb 19, 2017, 10:13 PM UTC

sokoloff wrote: post #71

u_wot_m8 wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd like the think that eventually karma will catch up with Uber. Hard to think of a single positive thing to say about the company.

Here's my positive thing. Taking a cab to the airport from my house in Cambridge, MA runs about $42 before tip, so call it $48 or so. An UberX costs $24.30 right now and UberPool costs $14.30 right now. Additionally, I can summon the ride more easily and get better feedback about the arrival time, giving me more confidence/less anxiety that I'll have a problem getting to the airport on time. As a consumer, by reducin…

Wait until no one else is in the market. Then have fun with your positive thing/thinking :)

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

#94

Post by tubehouse » Sun, Feb 19, 2017, 10:14 PM UTC

brobinson wrote: post #14

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.

Does Uber require employees to sign an arbitration agreement when they join?

Yes

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

#95

Post by ladytron » Sun, Feb 19, 2017, 10:14 PM UTC

I'm surprised they kept her around so long. I am wondering why they just didn't bring her in, transfer her to a new team, and tell her she was no longer "a good cultural fit" with the team. In a at will:right to work state that is a totally legal way to fire a high performing employee (I think).

It's almost like they enjoyed watching her complain. Glad she got out.

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

#96

Post by cbanek » Sun, Feb 19, 2017, 10:14 PM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #89

username223 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not just sex, but sex in an "open relationship," presumably as "backup booty." It's hard for me to understand why she didn't immediately start trying to GTFO, but instead stuck around for a year and tried to make things work. Save transcripts and screenshots, find a new job, then sue at leisure.

> It's hard for me to understand why she didn't immediately start trying to GTFO, but instead stuck around for a year and tried to make things work. Some possibilities: - Because she's loyal to her co-workers - Maybe still not jaded enough to jump ship at the first reason - quite possibly didn't have another job lined up to jump ship to A year isn't all that long, and if things had been turned around who knows she mi…

A year is a typical vesting schedule for stock options though.

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

#97

Post by tbarbugli » Sun, Feb 19, 2017, 10:15 PM UTC

kurthr wrote: post #10

HR doesn't work for you, it works for the company.

I am removing Uber app from my phone forever. I guess HR did not do a great job there.

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

#98

Post by Rapzid » Sun, Feb 19, 2017, 10:16 PM UTC

phereford wrote: post #18

Not to derail the whole premise of this article, but Susan's book looks great! Just bought it and can't wait to start reading it.

I'm going to look into it. I was shocked to see that Susan was a research assistant at UP until 2015 and now has a book out about production microservices. That's some carrier trajectory in two years.

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

#99

Post by rebolek » Sun, Feb 19, 2017, 10:17 PM UTC

grzm wrote: post #57

angry-hacker wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are used to break the laws, it's called disruption, I think.

Disruption doesn't necessarily imply illegal activity.

But Uber does.

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

#100

Post by jacquesm » Sun, Feb 19, 2017, 10:17 PM UTC

brudgers wrote: post #91

jacquesm wrote: post #44

What's with all the 'this is unbelievable' comments here? This is absolutely believable, Uber has pretty much made it their standard to break the laws where-ever they can, why should work place conduct be any different? In for a penny, in for a pound. You'd never hear something even close to this from Stripe or some other company run by upstanding folks. Fish rots from the head.

If taking a billion dollars from the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia says something about a company's stance regarding women's equality, what it says is not terribly inconsistent with Fowler's story.

That's an interesting angle that I had not considered. That money is such a weird thing from another viewpoint as well, it means that Uber doesn't have to perform at all for the next decade or so, they can basically wait out all of their competition. It removes every incentive to actually perform which might be just what it takes to kill them.