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Republican engineer fired by Google hits back

wsj.com

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Re: Republican engineer fired by Google hits back

#11

Post by AnimalMuppet »

WaxProlix wrote: post #5

I wonder what he was actually saying on these boards. Sometimes people clothe fairly repugnant stuff in 'political free speech'. Being toxic in the workplace shouldn't be tolerated, even if the would-be bully happens to claim some political leaning or another. The fact that the most damning quote we saw called him a "toxic asshole" and not a "conservative asshole" or something seems to imply he was just a not so grea…

Hard to say. If I'm mad at you because you're conservative, I can still call you "toxic" because it sounds worse. I can even justify it if, from my perspective, all conservatives are toxic by definition.

Note well: I'm not saying that's what happened. I'm just saying that someone choosing that word doesn't tell us much.

Re: Republican engineer fired by Google hits back

#12

Post by julienreszka »

AnimalMuppet wrote: post #8
julienreszka wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes let's make work even more alienating. Hurray

Does closing the message boards make work more alienating? Or does their existence make work more alienating (for most of the workers)?

Just look up the definition of alienation. Parent poster suggested to not bring your whole self to work.

Re: Republican engineer fired by Google hits back

#13

Post by olooney »

“I figured it would be a good place to see intelligent arguments through. It didn’t really turn out how I expected.”

When the urge gets irresistible, I post my "intelligent arguments" about politics to reddit, anonymously. Strangely, no one ever seems to change their mind! Odd, that. I'm under no illusion that this is healthy or productive, even less so that it will win me friends and accolades. It's hard to imagine the mindset of someone who thinks it would be a good idea to do this at work.

Re: Republican engineer fired by Google hits back

#14

Post by olooney »

cbanek wrote: post #6

> “I very much regret joining Google,” he says. “I figured it would be a good place to see intelligent arguments through." Um, here I thought it was a place to get some work done, not have political arguments? I don't see why so many people bring politics into the workplace unnecessarily. I have very strong political feelings, and I just try to keep them to myself at work, and talk about them outside of work. Especia…

I know, right? I felt a lot of the "benefit of the doubt" I was extending this guy evaporate when I read that.

Re: Republican engineer fired by Google hits back

#15

Post by thedragon4453 »

librish wrote: post #9

It will be very hard for anyone outside of the people directly involved to have an informed opinion about this, simply because Google will never release their side of the story. That being said, I have seen several people claiming "I was fired/removed/banned for having opinion X" and in MOST of those cases my view was that they were at a minimum being very insensitive on multiple occasions. Engineers often seem to ha…

> That being said, I have seen several people claiming "I was fired/removed/banned for having opinion X" and in MOST of those cases my view was that they were at a minimum being very insensitive on multiple occasions.

In the article it says that he wanted to buy lunch to talk about the deep thinker that circulated a memo saying women aren’t going to be as good as men in tech.

I’m just saying, don’t think he was let go because he was posting that he loves trickle down economics or small government. That there is no actual examples in the article of the type of thing he believes he was fired for doesn’t bode well either.

Re: Republican engineer fired by Google hits back

#16

Post by mrbonner »

You know, free speech is a right in this nation. But, when I go to work I would leave my views of religions, politics and now guns at home. I just want to go to work, get things done and get the heck out. Heck, I don’t even want to stay after dark to socialize anymore. I am really concerned that if I say something stupid after a few drinks, I would be vilified like a sexist, antisocial or whatever the label is nowadays.

Re: Republican engineer fired by Google hits back

#17

Post by Fellshard »

olooney wrote: post #14
cbanek wrote: post #6

> “I very much regret joining Google,” he says. “I figured it would be a good place to see intelligent arguments through." Um, here I thought it was a place to get some work done, not have political arguments? I don't see why so many people bring politics into the workplace unnecessarily. I have very strong political feelings, and I just try to keep them to myself at work, and talk about them outside of work. Especia…

I know, right? I felt a lot of the "benefit of the doubt" I was extending this guy evaporate when I read that.

Mind, though, that your presumption is that they are walking in and bringing political opinions into a non-political square, when in fact he was bringing political opinions into a dedicated political square within Google.

Re: Republican engineer fired by Google hits back

#18

Post by tempsy »

cbanek wrote: post #6

> “I very much regret joining Google,” he says. “I figured it would be a good place to see intelligent arguments through." Um, here I thought it was a place to get some work done, not have political arguments? I don't see why so many people bring politics into the workplace unnecessarily. I have very strong political feelings, and I just try to keep them to myself at work, and talk about them outside of work. Especia…

It's the nature of work today. The lines between "work" and "life" have been blurred. The whole "burnout" phenomenon is a direct result of the fact that people are more emotionally invested in their work than ever, so it's not really fair to suggest that employees leave "politics" at home when society is prodding you to bring your whole self to work everyday.

Re: Republican engineer fired by Google hits back

#19

Post by Fellshard »

olooney wrote: post #13

“I figured it would be a good place to see intelligent arguments through. It didn’t really turn out how I expected.” When the urge gets irresistible, I post my "intelligent arguments" about politics to reddit, anonymously. Strangely, no one ever seems to change their mind! Odd, that. I'm under no illusion that this is healthy or productive, even less so that it will win me friends and accolades. It's hard to imagine…

If you get along well with your coworkers otherwise, it might be you expect they would be reasonable conversants in a company-internal forum. It appears that assumption does not hold once some level of physical interaction is removed from the picture; certainly it can't be argued that anonymity is the factor, here.

Re: Republican engineer fired by Google hits back

#20

Post by tempsy »

olooney wrote: post #13

“I figured it would be a good place to see intelligent arguments through. It didn’t really turn out how I expected.” When the urge gets irresistible, I post my "intelligent arguments" about politics to reddit, anonymously. Strangely, no one ever seems to change their mind! Odd, that. I'm under no illusion that this is healthy or productive, even less so that it will win me friends and accolades. It's hard to imagine…

I mean, I think the underlying issue this person has (and others, most likely) is the perception that it is "OK" to be very vocal about left-leaning views in the workplace but it is not okay to be the same about right-leaning ones.

The whole point is that it's unfair to those workers to have to "hide" in anonymous forums to express views that are held by half the country, especially if the workplace has made it clear there are no consequences (or that it's encouraged) to vocally express the views of the other side.

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