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Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

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41–50 of 320 posts

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#41
I really don't like this. The problem is that Yishan never explicitly states that there was an exit interview, and the reason for the termination was clearly explained.

He could have a half assed HR person that gave some bullshit reason like "you are not a good fit", and the ex-employee is legitimately confused about why he was terminated.

The other potential issue is that employees go into shock when they are told they are terminated, and are highly unlikely to remember the rest of the conversation correctly. People that get fired, generally aren't good at digesting feedback in the first place.

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#42

Sounds like a toxic environment. Whatever the employee may have done to deserve separation, it is profoundly weird and troubling (and also, implicitly threatening to all employees, whatever their rank or standing) to see a CEO discuss those reasons in public.

This was my response as well.

If anything, he should have someone else respond. The fact it irked the CEO enough to stop whatever important things he was doing to log in and craft a fairly long rebuttal is telling.

I know plenty of people in PR and most would look at this and say this situation was completely mishandled. The CEO's comments actually makes him look worse than the whining ex-employee.

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#43
post #24

Umm. It was pretty clearly not done for vindictive reasons. The guy lied about why he was let go and put Reddit in the awkward position of either saying nothing and letting people believe they're a shitty workplace that fires people for disagreeing with management, or telling the truth about why the guy was fired (not laid off.) Frankly, he brought this on himself by forcing Reddit into choosing between two sucky opt…

This isn't my own insight (borrowed from a coworker), but he points out that Reddit is doing another round of funding and here this schmuck is implying that they're careless with revenue/profits... that could raise a big stink anywhere.

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#45
Once again, reddit is a free-for-all until it looks like reddit might lose face, then we get an amateur level public response.

The employee might not have been a good employee, but this kind of public dressing down is absolutely unprofessional by the CEO.

Also: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2iea97/i_am_a_former_...

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#46
post #25

Aw man. This is totally gonna get taken down by YC management/altman...

It's so much easier to casually fling things like this out there than it is to answer them, but FWIW, what you're insinuating is false. We penalize stories less, not more, when they're anti-YC, and every moderator is strictly instructed about it.

[deleted]

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#47
"When an employee is dismissed from employment at a company, the policy of almost every company (including reddit) is not to comment, either publicly or internally. This is because companies have no desire to ruin someone's future employment prospects by broadcasting to the world that they were fired."

IMO there need to be a better solution than this. I also don't like anti discrimination laws and I have a proposal for getting rid of them: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7727917

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#48

Sounds like a toxic environment. Whatever the employee may have done to deserve separation, it is profoundly weird and troubling (and also, implicitly threatening to all employees, whatever their rank or standing) to see a CEO discuss those reasons in public.

No. If you make accusations in a public forum (as that employee did) the company is going to respond. That is a given and perfectly normal. The guy basically said he was "laid off" followed by "because I pissed off management with my feedback". Claiming it was a retaliatory firing forces a response.

"because I pissed off management with my feedback"

Umm -- did he say that, in the words you are using (and took the trouble to put in quotes)? If so, where? It doesn't seem to appear anywhere in the comment thread.

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#49
post #40
post #24

Umm. It was pretty clearly not done for vindictive reasons. The guy lied about why he was let go and put Reddit in the awkward position of either saying nothing and letting people believe they're a shitty workplace that fires people for disagreeing with management, or telling the truth about why the guy was fired (not laid off.) Frankly, he brought this on himself by forcing Reddit into choosing between two sucky opt…

That's one interpretation - alternative: He said the truth, Reddit tries to get out of a bad spot and throws dirt against an ex-employee.

Except if the CEO knowingly made a false and damaging statement about an employee in public, he could be sued for libel. It's unlikely that a CEO would be stupid enough to do that.

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#50
Good lord, I hope the $50M investors in reddit are beating down the doors to get a PR person at the company so the CEO stops making crazy moves like this. There's no way a good developer would want to go work for Reddit when the CEO slaps people around in public (whether they deserve it or not). Sometimes you need to be the bigger man and move on instead of quarreling in public.
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