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Google Employee Alleges Discrimination Against Pregnant Women in Viral Memo

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Re: Google Employee Alleges Discrimination Against Pregnant Women in Viral Memo

#141

Post by rolltiide »

jayd16 wrote: post #92

This is a pretty tough spot. You don't want to impede someone's career because of there reproductive choices but at the same time were the teams wrong in not wanting to introduce a new manager about to take a months long medical leave? You can look at the suggested early medical leave as being pushed out (and it certainly could have been) but it also strikes me as a good option if you only want to work in a rock star…

I am genuinely open to understanding what reforms are possible that are compatible with running a business.

I don't like how she was treated, and I don't see how introducing a manager that leaves makes sense either.

My understanding is that we have an egalitarian ideal we want to reach - for career driven wage workers - but don't have a successful business structure that remains competitive here as it predates this need completely?

Re: Google Employee Alleges Discrimination Against Pregnant Women in Viral Memo

#142

Post by saagarjha »

ben7799 wrote: post #13

I'm always amazed Google management tolerates things like internal message boards aimed at letting employees create Memes on company time. On the "evil point haired boss" level it seems these types of things like their internal message boards cause a lot of trouble for the company. On the less evil side it seems like employees waste a lot of time on these internal sites and all the internal social justice stuff. Mayb…

> I'm always amazed Google management tolerates things like internal message boards aimed at letting employees create Memes on company time.

They're not the only large company that does this; I think companies allow this because they know that employees will end up making memes anyways and it's a lot better that they end up on an internal board than an ad-hoc external one. (Aside: I'm not sure some of the people making those "memes" understood how they're supposed to work. The puffin one is a misuse of the template…)

Re: Google Employee Alleges Discrimination Against Pregnant Women in Viral Memo

#143

Post by notadoc »

Not specifically about Google or this article, but how many people here have seen or experienced some sort of discrimination against parents in general?

Like outwardly complaining that a man is asking for paternity leave (or insinuating job consequences if they take more than a few days)? Or more subtle approaches like deliberately scheduling unimportant meetings at obscure times to interfere with parenting and childcare schedules?

Re: Google Employee Alleges Discrimination Against Pregnant Women in Viral Memo

#144

Post by dang »

TAForObvReasons wrote: post #67
dang wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> this has been discussed at length every time a similar issue arises That's probably why it was downvoted. Repetition is tedious, and HN is for curiosity. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

With all due respect, discussions about legal matters should never be trivialized or considered "tedious".

HN is not a site for discussing legal matters per se, but only the ones that gratify intellectual curiosity, and only to the extent that they do. That is what we're optimizing for here.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: Google Employee Alleges Discrimination Against Pregnant Women in Viral Memo

#146

Post by paulddraper »

matthewmacleod wrote: post #120
paulddraper wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. Religion and politics. Both super important. Both better discussed outside the workplace.

This is a glib answer from a position of security. “Politics” is absolutely a core part of the workplace where it starts to affect your rights, those of your colleagues, and the actions your employer takes in support or opposition of these.

> This is a glib answer from a position of security.

I'd love to know how you figured that one out.

> “Politics” is absolutely a core part of the workplace where it starts to affect your rights

I am only slightly exaggerating when I say that all politics affects your rights.

Again, like religion, super important. But for a variety of reasons, the workplace makes a poor forum.

Re: Google Employee Alleges Discrimination Against Pregnant Women in Viral Memo

#147

Post by paulddraper »

jacobsenscott wrote: post #138
groundlogic wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I.. disagree. At least here in Sweden, the workplace was and is a neutral place when it comes to politics (basically, it's considered extremely impolite to push your private political view at work.). Is it different in the US?

There's no such thing as a "neutral" place. What's happening is you tend to align with the predominate views at your company, and anyone who doesn't keeps their head down. From you point of view it looks neutral, but actually other views are being repressed.

I don't understand.

Why do you feel it's required to take some stand (including whatever the majority default is) on free speech, gun rights, immigration quotas, abortion restrictions, tax laws, states' rights, welfare benefits, etc. in the workplace?

Re: Google Employee Alleges Discrimination Against Pregnant Women in Viral Memo

#148

Post by groundlogic »

jacobsenscott wrote: post #138
groundlogic wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I.. disagree. At least here in Sweden, the workplace was and is a neutral place when it comes to politics (basically, it's considered extremely impolite to push your private political view at work.). Is it different in the US?

There's no such thing as a "neutral" place. What's happening is you tend to align with the predominate views at your company, and anyone who doesn't keeps their head down. From you point of view it looks neutral, but actually other views are being repressed.

...no?

I think you maybe don't get the whole "don't be political at work" thing.

Re: Google Employee Alleges Discrimination Against Pregnant Women in Viral Memo

#149

Post by tbrownaw »

clairity wrote: post #56
ocdtrekkie wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My personal opinion is that fundamentally, upper management (but people, in general) will make decisions that positively impact the people they see and work with. In a small company (like where I work) where the CEO knows the bottom tier employees by name, they are going to have a very hard time making decisions that harm those people. In a large company, upper management works with middle managers, and therefore, wi…

yes, exactly. the whole point of layers of management is to insulate upper managers from the decisions they make, particularly those that slight the customer or the front-line worker. a more generous phrasing would be that insolation allows managers to take emotions out of a situation to make the most rational decisions for the business (and its shareholders). in any case, direct relationships are a big deal for soci…

the whole point of layers of management is to insulate upper managers from the decisions they make

When I've had layers of management inserted above the team I'm on, it's been because someone had too many direct reports and needed to add another someone to delegate part of their work to.

Re: Google Employee Alleges Discrimination Against Pregnant Women in Viral Memo

#150

Post by CoolGuySteve »

nitrogen wrote: post #139
CoolGuySteve wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're terminated 'for cause', they are supposedly enforceable without pay in New York. Then you have to argue that their 'cause' was invalid, which takes time and lawyers.

Can one still be fired after already having quit (I suppose that might vary from state to state)?

No but that didn't stop their idiot HR lady from trying.
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