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Ask HN: Am I being instructed to do something illegal? (DEI hiring practices)

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Re: Ask HN: Am I being instructed to do something illegal? (DEI hiring practices)

#12

Typo in the title. If anyone has edit privileges then can they update it to "Ask HN:"

This posting looks recent enough that you should still have the edit button yourself.

Used it once for other typos but then the edit link disappeared!

Re: Ask HN: Am I being instructed to do something illegal? (DEI hiring practices)

#13
post #4

What's your motive here? Are you planning to leave the company if this escalates? I'm asking because if you want to "take them down" you totally can. Capture evidence and involve an employment lawyer. But what is in it for you? The lawyer will get paid handsomely. What about you? I don't think you're particularly damaged by this to ask for damages.

I get the feeling OP doesn't want to end up in court if he follows the instruction in the spreadsheet.

Re: Ask HN: Am I being instructed to do something illegal? (DEI hiring practices)

#14
post #4

What's your motive here? Are you planning to leave the company if this escalates? I'm asking because if you want to "take them down" you totally can. Capture evidence and involve an employment lawyer. But what is in it for you? The lawyer will get paid handsomely. What about you? I don't think you're particularly damaged by this to ask for damages.

I'm not surprised that on HN, basic ethics is too much of an ask

Re: Ask HN: Am I being instructed to do something illegal? (DEI hiring practices)

#15
post #4

What's your motive here? Are you planning to leave the company if this escalates? I'm asking because if you want to "take them down" you totally can. Capture evidence and involve an employment lawyer. But what is in it for you? The lawyer will get paid handsomely. What about you? I don't think you're particularly damaged by this to ask for damages.

I have thought about leaving. My first goal is to confirm that I really understand what I'm observing. I don't want to resign because of a legal issue only to discover later that it's not actually illegal and I misread the situation. I have no animosity for the company or the leaders. No desire to "take them down" or cause any drama. But avoiding drama definitely wouldn't be a reason to do something illegal imo.

Not wanting to violate labor law and anti discrimination regulations isn’t “causing drama”. It’s wanting to avoid civil and criminal repercussions, both against the corporation and individuals personally.

If you don’t get a satisfactory answer, report them to the US Dept of Labor/EEOC. I’d also recommend reporting them to the labor board in whichever state their headquarters is located (or what they consider their HQ if a remote org). To do nothing is to allow the unfair, abusive practice to continue. And if you do nothing, it will continue after you leave.

https://www.eeoc.gov/filing-charge-discrimination

https://www.eeoc.gov/how-file-charge-employment-discriminati...

Re: Ask HN: Am I being instructed to do something illegal? (DEI hiring practices)

#16
IMO the right way to improve DEI outcomes is to reach outside traditional recruitment pools. My last job spent months talking about DEI only to have a similar outcome to yours, just telling HR to hire more women and POC to senior roles. But it doesn't do anything for representation to scramble over the handful of "diverse" senior+ candidates that already exist. Ultimately improving diversity in tech is going to require hiring more people with less experience and training them.

Re: Ask HN: Am I being instructed to do something illegal? (DEI hiring practices)

#17

I would hope/think that the company's leader(s) consulted their attorney before instituting an objectively discriminatory practice. You might ask about that -- but if you're not a principal of the company, they don't necessarily have to answer your question (honestly).

I thought a people manager was an “agent of the company” and was held to more legal liability than an IC. E.g. as an IC if I see discrimination that does not involve me I don’t _need_ to report it. But as an agent of the company I would.

Or maybe my HR training course fibbed? /shrug

Re: Ask HN: Am I being instructed to do something illegal? (DEI hiring practices)

#19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This posting looks recent enough that you should still have the edit button yourself.

Used it once for other typos but then the edit link disappeared!

My brain instinctively read "ask hn" anyway so you're probably fine
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