I am an Uber survivor • Hacker News Board

Re: I am an Uber survivor

#401

Post by wavefunction » Mon, Feb 27, 2017, 11:13 PM UTC

matthewmacleod wrote: post #355

Arizhel wrote: post #290

>Besides, men outnumber women in tech by a very large margin. It's on our shoulders to help women fight back. Strength in numbers is a thing, and having men who speak up on their own, and who support and reinforce women who come forward can only a be a good thing. Yes, but the problem is that most men in tech these days are "brogrammers" who approve of this behavior and engage in it themselves. Tech is no longer the…

Yes, but the problem is that most men in tech these days are "brogrammers" who approve of this behavior and engage in it themselves. Citation needed. I haven't yet, in a decade in the tech industry, worked with anybody who would act in this way, to the best of my knowledge. That said, I work in London and not SV, so I can't say if the culture is different. I know for a fact that it wouldn't be tolerated for a second…

I think the scale of the allegations and the fact it's happening at as large and as visible a company as Uber is what is truly shocking to most Americans following this issue.

I don't mean that sexual harassment is no problem, rather it is a terrible problem but one that generally occurs at a team or departmental level stemming from loose discipline and a lack of proper organizational leadership.

Re: I am an Uber survivor

#402

Post by asdfologist » Mon, Feb 27, 2017, 11:13 PM UTC

ryandrake wrote: post #371

memmcgee wrote: post #362

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fowler's post established that this was happening to many women in the company. If we accept that Fowler is a credible witness, which I think is a fair assessment, we already know that this is a systemic problem. It's safe to assume then that if more women come forward, they are more likely to be telling the truth than not. Additionally, it's in Lyft's or other detractors best interests not to fake additional claims.…

Let's assume I am an internet troll. What stops me from anonymously signing up for Medium and publishing a similar story, now that there are two out there that corroborate?

You would be a pretty lousy troll in that case.

Re: I am an Uber survivor

#403

Post by tyingq » Mon, Feb 27, 2017, 11:13 PM UTC

diebir wrote: post #354

Without getting into any details this: "Once in a group chat, team members referred to a new Asian American recruit as slanty eye joe" seems very strange to me. The Uber tech org is like 80%+ foreign born, this makes pretty much zero sense. Disclaimer: I work for Uber.

I have seen groups of people where their internal culture stamps the OK on terms like that...even when members of the group are of that race. Some kind of thing where slinging insults of any type is "playful" and accepted. It's odd, but it happens.

Re: I am an Uber survivor

#404

Post by enraged_camel » Mon, Feb 27, 2017, 11:13 PM UTC

jastingo wrote: post #257

I'm not in the business of defending Uber - quite the contrary - but reading through the comments it seems that most people are assuming that this post by an anonymous person is 100% true. These types of posts are worrying to me. Why could this post not have been crafted by someone at Lyft? Or one of Uber's many other detractors? Given the PR nightmare that Uber is in why not pile on while the public seems primed for…

She posted anonymously, BUT also went out of her way to provide an awful lot of information about herself. Information that her ex-coworkers could presumably verify and figure out her real identity (especially since Uber seems to have very few women in engineering positions).

Based on the article, she is:

  1) A woman in her late 20s
  2) who used to work at Uber in Engineering working on database and networking scalability
  3) went to a top private college
  4) has a Masters in Information Systems
  5) previous to Uber worked as a Data Analyst in a tech company in the Midwest and left when it was acquired by a Chinese firm
  6) is 5 foot 7 Caucasian with dark hair
  7) never wears high heels

So yeah, the target demographic of the article is almost certainly her ex-coworkers. It seems to be a call to action of sorts.

Re: I am an Uber survivor

#405

Post by princetontiger » Mon, Feb 27, 2017, 11:14 PM UTC

I'm glad more of this stuff is coming out. As a male, I've been demeaned by a woman at one of the largest tech companies on earth. I ended up quitting, and I last I heard that woman was demoted/fire.

Our media is super powerful, and I love getting more of this out. 1984 can't happen with a free press.

Re: I am an Uber survivor

#406

Post by xapata » Mon, Feb 27, 2017, 11:15 PM UTC

aorloff wrote: post #334

nanolith wrote: post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I saw a manager do what she described, no matter how high up the food chain he was, I'd frog march him to HR myself. I don't even care if they fire me for it. We don't tolerate stuff like this in this century.

I know. What I'm struck by in all this is that much of Uber's staff must be really junior. Not just the assholes at the center of these stories, but everyone else around these incidents. Which kind of contradicts the idea that they are a bunch of high performers.

I had much the same thought. It's far easier to death march the youth. Try the same management style on someone older and they'd simply quit.

Re: I am an Uber survivor

#407

Post by harryh » Mon, Feb 27, 2017, 11:15 PM UTC

yummyfajitas wrote: post #339

cyberpunk wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. I don't. I meant that in the context of the overall experiences in women in tech, not women at uber or anything more specific than that. Let me try to rephrase.. Would you be shocked that this sort of thing goes on? I would not. My only point was that the bigger problem is exactly THAT lack of surprise, and not the legitimacy of the post; and that's what we should be talking about. I don't trust anything about th…

I would be shocked that a bunch of high-IQ, high-conscientiousness individuals would repeatedly engage in dangerous activities with a high probability of getting caught, and in such easily provable ways. Putting on my evil villain hat for a moment, if I want to harass women it won't be at my workplace. It won't be at my favorite bar in Pune where I get laid regularly. I'll take the bus to Mumbai, head to some bar in…

I understand your reasoning but I don't think it takes into account the motivations of those that harass. Harassment is about control. Taking the bus to Mumbai to harass some random woman you don't know and are unlikely to ever see again isn't as powerful as harassing/controlling women in your every day life.

Re: I am an Uber survivor

#408

Post by alinspired » Mon, Feb 27, 2017, 11:15 PM UTC

what every man needs to ask himself and reflect on:

- would i stand up to a pig in the room

- would i stand up to a pig in the room that is way up the ladder

Re: I am an Uber survivor

#409

Post by cyberpunk » Mon, Feb 27, 2017, 11:15 PM UTC

yummyfajitas wrote: post #339

cyberpunk wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. I don't. I meant that in the context of the overall experiences in women in tech, not women at uber or anything more specific than that. Let me try to rephrase.. Would you be shocked that this sort of thing goes on? I would not. My only point was that the bigger problem is exactly THAT lack of surprise, and not the legitimacy of the post; and that's what we should be talking about. I don't trust anything about th…

I would be shocked that a bunch of high-IQ, high-conscientiousness individuals would repeatedly engage in dangerous activities with a high probability of getting caught, and in such easily provable ways. Putting on my evil villain hat for a moment, if I want to harass women it won't be at my workplace. It won't be at my favorite bar in Pune where I get laid regularly. I'll take the bus to Mumbai, head to some bar in…

I can't work it out either. I've had staff who I really liked and knew for years, who were TOTALLY normal be reported to me by other males on the team for harassing female staff..

He admitted his behaviour and he couldn't explain why he did it; was a pretty rough experience for everyone..

Re: I am an Uber survivor

#410

Post by memmcgee » Mon, Feb 27, 2017, 11:16 PM UTC

harryh wrote: post #31

Why would someone write an anonymous blog post but then declare that they are: 1) A woman in her late 20s 2) Who used to work at Uber in Engineering working on database and networking scalability 3) Went to a top private college 4) has a Masters in Information Systems 5) previous to Uber worked as a Data Analyst in a tech company in the Midwest and left when it was acquired by a Chinese firm 6) Is 5 foot 7 Caucasian…

Because any woman who speaks up under their real name is bound to get harassment from gamergate types and other misogynistic asses who have nothing better to do. Fowler is already getting harassed online.

Additionally, assuming that Uber isn't stupid enough to coordinate a smear campaign of their own (although it happened to Ellen Pao)[1], she's safe. And if someone does doxx her, it means either: (a) Uber decided to doxx her or (b) one of the Uber employees that participated in her harassment decided to doxx her. Either way, it looks even worse for Uber and could set them up for a lawsuit.

[1]: https://www.reddit.com/r/Feminism/comments/594rad/exreddit_c...