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Employee commits suicide after MongoDB fired her during mental health leave

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Re: Employee commits suicide after MongoDB fired her during mental health leave

#21
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

I wonder if this should be the case. The state consists of it's voters and it's voted representatives. Companies and the economy in general, are secondary entities (unless you really treat them as people, which opens a whole can of worms, see PACs etc), and a means to an end, not an end in and of itself. As such, yes, be pro-economy, but don't forget the people having to live in that society.

Trying to force companies to keep people longer than they want is how the social safety net works in some places (like Japan) and it's how the US healthcare system works, but both of those are, like, bad.

It's better to make it easier to quit and find a new job and support people in the meantime. Denmark as an example.

But to do this you have to have other ways to push people to stay productive.

Re: Employee commits suicide after MongoDB fired her during mental health leave

#23
post #9
post #8

Sad. And perhaps a controversial take but consider the counterfactual: Should it be illegal to fire employees that recent took mental health leave? Get a bad review or put on a PIP? It's already becoming a common strategy to immediately take mental health/sick leave.

If neither option satisfies, we must go up the stack. There is something seriously wrong with a society that drives educated, productive adults to suicide.

The US is somewhere in the middle, right there with some European countries. It's hard to say what drives people over the edge. Surprisingly Uruguay is high up there but Uganda, Ghana and Colombia are low.

Re: Employee commits suicide after MongoDB fired her during mental health leave

#24
post #8

Sad. And perhaps a controversial take but consider the counterfactual: Should it be illegal to fire employees that recent took mental health leave? Get a bad review or put on a PIP? It's already becoming a common strategy to immediately take mental health/sick leave.

I know people who upon getting put into a PIP took a mental health leave as it took them over the PIP time horizon. The mileage you get from this will vary on organization —some won’t want the reputational hit, others won’t care though.

Re: Employee commits suicide after MongoDB fired her during mental health leave

#26
post #24
post #8

Sad. And perhaps a controversial take but consider the counterfactual: Should it be illegal to fire employees that recent took mental health leave? Get a bad review or put on a PIP? It's already becoming a common strategy to immediately take mental health/sick leave.

I know people who upon getting put into a PIP took a mental health leave as it took them over the PIP time horizon. The mileage you get from this will vary on organization —some won’t want the reputational hit, others won’t care though.

[deleted]

Re: Employee commits suicide after MongoDB fired her during mental health leave

#28
post #3

Really quite nasty of the company.

[flagged]

Companies are made of people. Companies only use people if the people who make up the companies are ok with it. Being a decisionmaker in a company doesn't give you carte blanche to behave like an amoral automaton.

So no, MongoDB are assholes for doing this. They could have had some humanity and prioritized human well-being over cost savings.

Re: Employee commits suicide after MongoDB fired her during mental health leave

#29
post #8

Sad. And perhaps a controversial take but consider the counterfactual: Should it be illegal to fire employees that recent took mental health leave? Get a bad review or put on a PIP? It's already becoming a common strategy to immediately take mental health/sick leave.

>Should it be illegal to fire employees that recent took mental health leave?

Yes, at least for companies the size of MongoDB

Didn't need much ruminating to come to that answer, but I lack the sociopathic behaviors necessary to run a corporation in the American legal environment.

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