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Google pays $11M to job-seekers who alleged age discrimination

theguardian.com

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Re: Google pays $11M to job-seekers who alleged age discrimination

#141

Post by pmiller2 »

tracker1 wrote: post #137
justaj wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm 35. I've yet to learn a programming language. I've always been intimidated by starting and choosing a language. I've started to loosen up regarding that and finally finding a path I could take. However, instead now I'm intimidated by the job market and age discrimination.

Depends on the market... Pacific coast is definitely skewed young. Phoenix, Houston, Austin and Atlanta will be a little older. Phoenix in particular leans a bit older, I'm 44 and average in the group I'm currently working with is within 5 years of my age. A lot of the work is more boring business oriented work, and not a lot of startups. But it's steady, there's plenty of it and it pays relatively well compared to c…

Any stats showing that those places skew older, or is that just your perception?

Re: Google pays $11M to job-seekers who alleged age discrimination

#142

Post by pmiller2 »

zippy wrote: post #37
panpanna wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because last time Google denied doing something like this it turned out there was a paper trail all the way to the CEO. (The top email basically said: why are you emailing me this. This is illegal. Don't create a paper trail!!)

Google has a history of age discrimination and losing in court, going back to the founders of the company. See Reid v Google where Brian Reid, a key developer of the tech we use, was told his ideas "were too old to matter" and that he was an "old fuddy duddy." Google fought it and lost. https://www.law.com/therecorder/almID/1202464321723/?slretur... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Reid_(computer_scientist...

Reid v. Google was settled out of court in 2012 for an undisclosed amount.

Re: Google pays $11M to job-seekers who alleged age discrimination

#143

Post by rasz »

zippy wrote: post #37
panpanna wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because last time Google denied doing something like this it turned out there was a paper trail all the way to the CEO. (The top email basically said: why are you emailing me this. This is illegal. Don't create a paper trail!!)

Google has a history of age discrimination and losing in court, going back to the founders of the company. See Reid v Google where Brian Reid, a key developer of the tech we use, was told his ideas "were too old to matter" and that he was an "old fuddy duddy." Google fought it and lost. https://www.law.com/therecorder/almID/1202464321723/?slretur... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Reid_(computer_scientist...

>Google fought it and lost.

"The case was settled out of court", settlement is not a loss, its being allowed to sweep your dirty deeds under the rug with no consequences.

Re: Google pays $11M to job-seekers who alleged age discrimination

#144

Post by pmiller2 »

kvonhorn wrote: post #139
atdrummond wrote: post #125

I'd love to hire some talented individuals with this level of experience. Any recommendations on where I can post positions that don't attract the typical west coast brogrammer set?

> don't attract the typical west coast brogrammer set Isn't this just discrimination against a different demographic?

Maybe, but you know it is totally legal to discriminate against people under 40 in the US, right? Not saying it’s ethical or otherwise a good idea, but it won’t get the DoL on your case.

Re: Google pays $11M to job-seekers who alleged age discrimination

#145

Post by lonelappde »

pradn wrote: post #97
segmondy wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Almost every rejected hire is apparently a "close call" ;-)

That could be true, statistically, if the initial screening interviews are high-signal.

The phone screens are terrible signal. They intentionally give everyone who can spell Java or C an on-site to get multiple opinions. No one wants to be the single person who commits to a No Hire.

Re: Google pays $11M to job-seekers who alleged age discrimination

#146

Post by lonelappde »

sandino wrote: post #101
itp wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's true at a lot of organizations. The cost of a false positive hire typically vastly outweighs the cost of a false negative, particularly when you have the luxury of being perceived as a premiere employer in the space (from which follows a steady stream of qualified applicants).

I know the rationale. Then again if it's just one 1 person out of 6 (including 3 other persons who gave "very positive" reviews) then maybe that one person is just being ... negative. As the modern interviewing culture (not so subtly) incentivizes them to be.

"Somewhat Positive" means No Hire, so it was 3/6.

Re: Google pays $11M to job-seekers who alleged age discrimination

#147

Post by lonelappde »

cortesoft wrote: post #113
sandino wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The recruiter told me I had 3 really positive reviews and 2 somewhat positive and 1 negative review. And apparently at Google - the negatives carry the day.

Well, if the other candidates had 6 positive reviews, it makes sense.

Why? How many openings were there, and how many other applicants?

Re: Google pays $11M to job-seekers who alleged age discrimination

#148

Post by lonelappde »

thfuran wrote: post #25
ihuman wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't it normal for class-action lawsuits to have a low payout per person?

It's definitely normal for the class members to receive little payout per person, but a lot of that tends to have to do with astronomical legal expenses.

No. Lawyers get about half. That's a lot, but class members each getting a pittance isn't much different from getting twice a pittance. Substantial payments to everyone in a class would wipe out the defendant.

Re: Google pays $11M to job-seekers who alleged age discrimination

#149

Post by lonelappde »

ghaff wrote: post #94
pcwalton wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But there's no such thing, semantically, as "leaving zero bits alone". The value 0 has no notion of "where it came from". The expression "x & 0" is semantically equivalent to the expression "0", in that they represent the same value. In my view, the fact that the question even lends itself to philosophical debate like this just illustrates how exceptionally bad the question is, even by Google standards.

Oh I don’t disagree. Literally going through bit by bit and zeroing any bit not equal to zero would be grossly inefficient especially if you know it’s unnecessary.

It's not grossly inefficient to do 64 iterations of an arithmetic loop for a trick toy function that has no reason to ever be called in practice.

Re: Google pays $11M to job-seekers who alleged age discrimination

#150

Post by blub »

justaj wrote: post #84
gregfjohnson wrote: post #21

Tangentially related: I just turned 65, and am continuing to immensely enjoy programming. Current job involves embedded digital signal processing in medical devices. My family came up with a new name for my category of programmers: the gerihacktric demographic.. :-) I have interviewed with Alphabet twice, no offers. One time apparently it was a close call.. It would be fun to be the all-time record holder for oldest…

I'm 35. I've yet to learn a programming language. I've always been intimidated by starting and choosing a language. I've started to loosen up regarding that and finally finding a path I could take. However, instead now I'm intimidated by the job market and age discrimination.

One option might be to transition as fast as possible into scrum master/product owner and then project manager.
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