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Miso pays disputed $10k referral bonus to ex-engineer, apologizes

jzhwu.blogspot.com

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Re: Miso pays disputed $10k referral bonus to ex-engineer, apologizes

#21

Post by ahelwer »

dlokshin wrote: post #11

I'm not sure that the 10k was worth it for J Wu. Employers Google potential employees, and this blog post will definitely show up. Even though I feel he's in the right this type of public shaming would make me think twice about hiring him. Just doesn't seem like it's worth the hassle even though I don't plan on doing anything terrible to my employees (criminal in this case!) To be clear, I feel that Miso is in the wr…

Josh made a comment under the other story stating he would donate any money he gets to charity.

Re: Miso pays disputed $10k referral bonus to ex-engineer, apologizes

#22

Post by stretchwithme »

dlokshin wrote: post #11

I'm not sure that the 10k was worth it for J Wu. Employers Google potential employees, and this blog post will definitely show up. Even though I feel he's in the right this type of public shaming would make me think twice about hiring him. Just doesn't seem like it's worth the hassle even though I don't plan on doing anything terrible to my employees (criminal in this case!) To be clear, I feel that Miso is in the wr…

When someone does you wrong, you can't go off in secret and appeal for justice. Public shame is often all these people understand.

The fact that someone tried to get an injustice doesn't make less employable. Well, maybe to people who like to take advantage of others. Sounds like a good thing to discourage them.

Re: Miso pays disputed $10k referral bonus to ex-engineer, apologizes

#23

Post by jasonwatkinspdx »

rdl wrote: post #7
spitfire wrote: post #6

Utter crap. Rewriting history after you get called out is just pathetic. They owed him money and either through mistake or malice didn't pay him. When he contacted them to correct it they tried to legalize their way out of it. If I wouldn't have anything to do with them before, I'm doubly unimpressed now.

They paid him. They admitted they were wrong and apologized. They clarified their policy so people won't dispute it in the future. I'm not sure exactly what more you'd expect them to do. I'm sure they wish they'd handled this differently, but once he posted it, they seem to have handled things reasonably well. Plus, of course, you've only seen one side of the story. Even if the company has other facts, they can't pre…

When they thought they had all the power, they saw no reason to pay him. Once it was clear that the power wasn't imbalanced, they went for damage control. That reads pretty transparently to anyone who's been around the block a few times.

The loudest expression of your morals is what you do when you have all the power. If you act poorly, later rationalizations do little to convince anyone otherwise.

Re: Miso pays disputed $10k referral bonus to ex-engineer, apologizes

#24

Post by creamyhorror »

tantalor wrote: post #15
rdl wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They paid him. They admitted they were wrong and apologized. They clarified their policy so people won't dispute it in the future. I'm not sure exactly what more you'd expect them to do. I'm sure they wish they'd handled this differently, but once he posted it, they seem to have handled things reasonably well. Plus, of course, you've only seen one side of the story. Even if the company has other facts, they can't pre…

I don't think they did admit they were wrong, because they weren't necessarily wrong. They admitted they made a mistake in not clearly documenting their policy, which was ambiguous. As part of correcting that mistake, they recompensed an employee who was wronged by the ambiguity. They did this not because they were obligated by a policy or contract, but by ethics. I think it's debatable whether he was entitled to the…

> They admitted they made a mistake in not clearly documenting their policy, which was ambiguous. As part of correcting that mistake, they recompensed an employee who was wronged by the ambiguity. They did this not because they were obligated by a policy or contract, but by ethics.

This is not a matter of a simple "ambiguity in policy", is it? This is a contract they made with their employees that failed to specify terms like "the bonus will only be payable while you are an employee of the company".

Miso doesn't get to retroactively apply terms to a contract that has been made. Hence, IMO, they recompensed the employee because they were obligated to by contract.

edit: Two good comments from the blog:

----

Somrat, Tim: your mistake was not that you were unclear about your policy. Your mistake was failing to follow your policies and agreements in the first place and then trying to apply new policies after the fact. This isn't unclear, it's unethical.

---

This reply tells everyone that CYA is your sole problem solving skill.

---

Re: Miso pays disputed $10k referral bonus to ex-engineer, apologizes

#25

Post by zobzu »

relaunched wrote: post #5

I'm really glad Miso did the right thing. However, they should have done something extra, either monetary or otherwise. What's the tech equivalent of punitive damages?

After the public shaming (hey, that was WAY more efficient than a lawyer), they could at least have been honest. But hey that takes balls, moral standards, and uhm, probably either apologizing and quitting the company either saying "screw that guy we're not paying him because we don't like him". Of course, that's utopia.

Obviously if they had either there would again, be no story, since they'd just have been honest to start with.

Re: Miso pays disputed $10k referral bonus to ex-engineer, apologizes

#27

Post by throwway »

As someone who has friends at Miso, and who was considering applying there: I think its a little too late.

For anyone seeking employment, the people you work with day to day is one of the most important things, and this episode doesn't really show the best side of its founders character.

Re: Miso pays disputed $10k referral bonus to ex-engineer, apologizes

#28

Post by [deleted] »

dlokshin wrote: post #11

I'm not sure that the 10k was worth it for J Wu. Employers Google potential employees, and this blog post will definitely show up. Even though I feel he's in the right this type of public shaming would make me think twice about hiring him. Just doesn't seem like it's worth the hassle even though I don't plan on doing anything terrible to my employees (criminal in this case!) To be clear, I feel that Miso is in the wr…

[deleted]

Re: Miso pays disputed $10k referral bonus to ex-engineer, apologizes

#29

Post by dundun »

dlokshin wrote: post #11

I'm not sure that the 10k was worth it for J Wu. Employers Google potential employees, and this blog post will definitely show up. Even though I feel he's in the right this type of public shaming would make me think twice about hiring him. Just doesn't seem like it's worth the hassle even though I don't plan on doing anything terrible to my employees (criminal in this case!) To be clear, I feel that Miso is in the wr…

I disagree. His post stands as a public review of his previous employer, which-- in giving him the bonus after they previously denied it-- admit that they have two very different personalities. In the public, they are good people and agree with the morals of the multitudes (doing the right thing). In private, they abuse their power and finger point when things don't go their way (he "lost their data and mangled their company).

It wasn't worth 10K to Miso. Potential employees are going to google their name and want nothing to do with them. I sure wouldn't.

Their might be some employers that deny J Wu a job based on an honest post like this, but are they really working for in the first place?

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