Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Reflecting on one very, very strange year at Uber

susanjfowler.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

811–820 of 1001 posts

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

#811

Post by Rapzid »

logicfiction wrote: post #708
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.

> I was enrolled in a Stanford CS graduate program, sponsored by Uber, and Uber only sponsored employees who had high performance scores. Under both of my official performance reviews and scores, I qualified for the program, but after this sneaky new negative score I was no longer eligible. She had sponsorship in a graduate program at a great school. Eventually this was allegedly ruined in a retroactive performance r…

On top of that Uber appears to be a huge addition to her relatively short (public)work history. Now she's at Stripe. Hard to fault the logic of sticking things out if they weren't getting too crazy.

People are always having to weigh risk and adversity against reward. This is why the power dynamic between superiors and subordinates is such a huge factor in company HR policies and it's taken so seriously; from corporate US to the military. The situations that can arise can be quite complicated and messy.

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

#812

Post by mysticmarvel »

tptacek wrote: post #188
unityByFreedom wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What? It's literally your right to vote to join a union. If a majority of coworkers vote for one, you've got a union. Look up the National Labor Relations Act.

Not only is this true, but the NLRA also bars employer retaliation against concerted actions by employees both to organize and also to take actions in protest of work conditions. It's a huge exception to at-will employment. I had no idea about any of this stuff until I started talking to the Tech Solidarity people. I'd always thought the reason nobody goes on strike is that you'd simply be fired for doing so. But, no…

This is all totally true.

It is also totally true that you are not squeaky clean in your employment (never been late once? Never missed a deadline?), and that your performance management targets are set by the people against whom you are protesting. You can be performance managed out of a position in months, even if your right to protest is protected and you are literally a Saint in the workplace.

I'm not saying it's right, just that it's true.

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

#814

Post by mysticmarvel »

tptacek wrote: post #188
unityByFreedom wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What? It's literally your right to vote to join a union. If a majority of coworkers vote for one, you've got a union. Look up the National Labor Relations Act.

Not only is this true, but the NLRA also bars employer retaliation against concerted actions by employees both to organize and also to take actions in protest of work conditions. It's a huge exception to at-will employment. I had no idea about any of this stuff until I started talking to the Tech Solidarity people. I'd always thought the reason nobody goes on strike is that you'd simply be fired for doing so. But, no…

This is all totally true.

It is also totally true that you are not squeaky clean in your employment (never been late once? Never missed a deadline?), and that your performance management targets are set by the people against whom you are protesting. You can be performance managed out of a position in months, even if your right to protest is protected and you are literally a Saint in the workplace.

I'm not saying it's right, just that I've seen it done. There is always a way to remove "difficult" employees regardless of protection laws.

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

#815

Post by YourInGroup »

> I pointed out that I was publishing a book with O'Reilly, speaking at major tech conferences, and doing all of the things that you're supposed to do to have an "upward career trajectory", but they said it didn't matter and I needed to prove myself as an engineer"

That's funny bit

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

#816

Post by monodeldiablo »

dzhiurgis wrote: post #446
dgudkov wrote: post #349

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Strictly speaking asking a subordinate for sex is not always a harassment (but very frequently is).

What are the scenarios where it is and isn't harassment? I have not knowledge or experience in this area, so to me it looks you'd either have to use very vulgar language, do it repeatedly after being told it is unwanted or basically have negative intention. Else it's just an odd thing to do at workplace. Note, I am asking this as genuinely curious foreigner from very un-PC culture. Not trying to be annoying or anythi…

For the same reason that police can't ethically solicit sex from someone they've pulled over for a traffic violation: There's a power imbalance that unfairly biases the propositioner over the victim.

Even if the boss asks politely, the subordinate knows that their job -- and likely their financial stability -- ultimately depends on making the boss happy...

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

#817

Post by nailer »

grey-area wrote: post #281
ChuckMcM wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Top engineers were being poached from Google/FB and these people > were trying to carve out territory in a quickly growing engineering > team. It is always a bit sad when one of the top characteristic of an engineer from organization X is their political ability to carve out an empire. I'm a bit surprised she doesn't have at least one law firm trying to get her to be the lead claimant in a class action lawsuit. See…

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…

> why not talk about that and ways to make this better?

A class action law suit may be the best way to make this better.

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

#818

Post by scrollaway »

029r0823jr wrote: post #748
scrollaway wrote: post #639

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With rare exceptions, I'm a non-drinker. Nowhere in Europe have I ever had an issue ordering a coke instead of an alcoholic drink, even when hanging out with people getting completely shitfaced. Is this seriously a thing in the US? Feeling like you have to drink if you're surrounded by people drinking? I keep hearing stories like that. Nobody is going to judge you for not consuming alcohol - if anyone does, they're c…

It's not that people will judge you IME, but that it's really fucking boring.

What's boring about it?

Unless being drunk is your idea of fun (in which case it seems doubtful you'd be a non-drinker), I cannot understand how drinking liquid A at a party is any more boring than liquid B.

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

#819

Post by facepalm »

kevinburke wrote: post #201
sergiotapia wrote: post #43

>On my first official day rotating on the team, my new manager sent me a string of messages over company chat. He was in an open relationship, he said, and his girlfriend was having an easy time finding new partners but he wasn't. Totally normal behavior! Who hasn't spoken about their sex life the very first day of interactions? "Welcome to the team, we use Git for source control, all of our company knowledgebase is…

I would guess that this happens more often than you imagine. Women often don't share stories like this for fear of retribution at their current company or future companies, or because they think you won't believe them. In addition NDA's are often a condition of receiving severance. Most women in Silicon Valley have had experiences similar to those mentioned in the article (HR disbelief, multiple women reporting same…

Your guessing sounds rather sexist. Why not stick to data instead of guessing? There is enough bias against men already.

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

#820

Post by kevinburke »

facepalm wrote: post #819
kevinburke wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would guess that this happens more often than you imagine. Women often don't share stories like this for fear of retribution at their current company or future companies, or because they think you won't believe them. In addition NDA's are often a condition of receiving severance. Most women in Silicon Valley have had experiences similar to those mentioned in the article (HR disbelief, multiple women reporting same…

Your guessing sounds rather sexist. Why not stick to data instead of guessing? There is enough bias against men already.

My "data" is every woman I know in tech sharing this story with a comment like, "A version of this happened to me" or "I know so many people who have had this happen to them." Also multiple stories of women reporting harassment and being forced out of companies, as well as multiple women I know signing NDA's as a condition of receiving severance pay to avoid discussing a company's poor treatment or management of harassment.
Post reply on HN