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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

#651

Post by floatrock »

MBCook wrote: post #640
floatrock wrote: post #633

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Someone will reply with the exact citation, but there's the story of that psychologist or economist or jaded physicist who goes to a fancy bougie party, dressed like a million bucks, and goes up to a pretty lady in a fancy ballgown. "Would you sleep with me for a million bucks?" Intrigued by his presence and directness, the lady raises her eyebrows and says "go on..." "Would you sleep with me for a hundred bucks?" "N…

I haven't downvoted a single person in this entire conversation. I have no idea what her compensation package looks like, it doesn't really matter to the point I'm making. My point was simply this: if you're waiting for your payout, you're keeping your mouth shut by not walking out. If you have some sort of serious ethical disagreement with your employer, you have to weigh how much you care about that to how much you…

I think we agree on everything except

> The name "golden handcuffs" seems to imply that someone doesn't have a choice in the matter.

"Golden handcuffs" to me is a beautiful phrase. It implies a fragile, beautiful piece of jewelry that is only superficially binding. To me, it's a euphemism for a personality test of do you chose ideals or sufficiently-high-enough material comfort.

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

#653

Post by NamTaf »

unityByFreedom wrote: post #171
knucklesandwich wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tech workers (across all disciplines) need to unionize to combat this kind of thing. As has been pointed out below, HR that is staffed and incentivized by the company management only serves the interests of the management. A union is the only structure that can actually win demands for workers by organizing workers to withhold their labor. It's not a panacea, and there are several historical examples of union leaders…

That speaks to me. After salary negotiations, HR within companies has never done anything for me when I approached them. They seemed to be there only to defend the boss and register me as a complainer. It took me several jobs and this post to learn that.

The best way I've heard it discussed is that too many people focus on the wrong word in HR. It's not Human Resources, it's Human Resources. Understanding that seems to be the critical step in getting HR and understanding why they are the way they are.

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

#654

Post by bogomipz »

PaulRobinson wrote: post #297
bootload wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Culture was extremely heavy on the drinking;" For me this is a red flag. Booze + programming == pissed programming This leads to bad code also bad team dynamics. Ultimately this will reflect on the product and bottom line. For individuals this reads like a culture where the barrel is creating ^bad apples^. Not a good look on a resume.

We have a "whiskey club", and regularly go to the pub where I work. We don't do it at lunchtime. We don't do it during the working day. 5:30pm on a Friday? Let's have a glass of whiskey together. Somebody joining/leaving, or we haven't been out together for a while? Let's go to the pub after work one evening. There is a #drinks channel in Slack where people who fancy a drink after work co-ordinate, and several of wil…

>"As for team dynamics, it means we know each other better and bond more frequently"

Is drinking actually bonding though?

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

#655

Post by [deleted] »

floatrock wrote: post #633
MBCook wrote: post #437

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're not handcuffs, involuntary servitude is illegal. 'Golden handcuffs' means you care more about your future payout than whatever missbehavior/illegality/immorality you're overlooking. Also believing that same missbehavior won't cause the contract to be worthless by the time you get to collect.

Someone will reply with the exact citation, but there's the story of that psychologist or economist or jaded physicist who goes to a fancy bougie party, dressed like a million bucks, and goes up to a pretty lady in a fancy ballgown. "Would you sleep with me for a million bucks?" Intrigued by his presence and directness, the lady raises her eyebrows and says "go on..." "Would you sleep with me for a hundred bucks?" "N…

[deleted]

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

#656

Post by cstejerean »

linkregister wrote: post #480
grey-area wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a bit surprised so many people want to give her advice. She's already taken a really bold step and written cogently and in a balanced way about her situation, the toxic culture at Uber, and made it clear she's moved on to a better place. Why talk about what she should be doing and hasn't done as if there is only one way to resolve this? Why not give thanks to the writer for writing this and putting up with all th…

I think you have incorrectly attributed ChuckMcM's comment as advice. He was just musing about his surprise that a law firm hasn't already contacted her considering the strength of her case, and having a thought experiment about the outcome. In this case, it would greatly benefit the public good to litigate. Unfortunately, the risk of lawsuits is the single greatest motivator for U.S. companies to combat sexism and h…

I'm not a lawyer but I imagine in this case the damages would be puntive. It's less about how she was harmed and more about the fact that the company has rampant sexual harassment and a history of not handling complaints properly. A good way to teach them (and others who are contemplating doing the same) a lesson is to make them pay an outrageous amount of money.

Not saying Susan should be the one to sue them, but someone certainly should. Along with the bad publicity one or more lawsuits would definitely get them to clean up their HR practices.

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

#658

Post by linkregister »

cstejerean wrote: post #656
linkregister wrote: post #480

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you have incorrectly attributed ChuckMcM's comment as advice. He was just musing about his surprise that a law firm hasn't already contacted her considering the strength of her case, and having a thought experiment about the outcome. In this case, it would greatly benefit the public good to litigate. Unfortunately, the risk of lawsuits is the single greatest motivator for U.S. companies to combat sexism and h…

I'm not a lawyer but I imagine in this case the damages would be puntive. It's less about how she was harmed and more about the fact that the company has rampant sexual harassment and a history of not handling complaints properly. A good way to teach them (and others who are contemplating doing the same) a lesson is to make them pay an outrageous amount of money. Not saying Susan should be the one to sue them, but so…

I think we're both in agreement about the greater public good of the litigation. I don't understand punitive damages so I can't comment.

I'm uncomfortable with assigning responsibility to an individual to undertake a crusade when there is little upside and a large downside.

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

#659

Post by olivia_sims123 »

tezka wrote: post #544
ben_olive wrote: post #219

HR fucked up and the manager should not have talked to her that way. Absolutely agree. I believe she has grounds to sue if she wishes. Now, I think it's easy to take this type of situations and overeact. The behavior Susan described is not appropriate. That said, I think there is a trend to classify any romantic behavior or advances as sexual assault and innpapropriate behavior. Nowadays I would have a very hard time…

"Is it really that crazy that you might meet a girl/guy you might want to date at work?" Yeah it's really, really crazy if you are in the position of authority over whomever you are harassing. It's still a huge problem even if you have the other person's consent. Uber HR is a real shitshow for not even realizing the basic fact that this is not just bad for the employee but is colossally hurting the company's interest…

From Michelle Obama's Biography

Marriage to Barack Obama

  After law school, Michelle worked as an associate in the   Chicago branch 
  of the firm Sidley Austin, in the area of   marketing and intellectual property. 
  It was there, in 1989,   that she met her future husband, Barack Obama, 
  a summer intern   to whom she was assigned as an adviser. 

  Initially, she refused to date Barack, believing that their 
  work relationship would make the romance improper. 
  She   eventually relented, however, and the couple soon fell in   love.
http://www.biography.com/people/michelle-obama-307592#gifted...

How did he ever become president...

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

#660

Post by alexbecker »

pm90 wrote: post #394
rosser wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> HR within companies has never done anything for me when I approached them.... The thing you need to keep in mind about HR is this: they aren't there to help you, to have your back. They're there to protect the company from you . Incidental to that, they've traditionally managed the benefits the company is either required or chooses to give you, and acts as a place for you to take concerns such as sexual harassment.…

How does one protect oneself in cases of sexual impropriety then? This seems like a pretty dangerous flaw. To be completely honest I've always felt that HR has been the "police" of the workplace, there to keep issues like this from getting out of control (as it most certainly did in the case of OP). Now I feel much more exposed...

Bosses who harass employees and a culture that encourage such things present a much larger risk to the company than a single employee's complaints, so in a well-functioning company their incentives align with policing these issues. But it's still worth keeping in mind that their incentives are not your incentives, and if they have given up on keeping the company culture healthy, their interests will be oppossed to yours.
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