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Google exec fired after female boss groped him at drunken bash, suit says

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Re: Google exec fired after female boss groped him at drunken bash, suit says

#101

These stories leave a bad taste in my mouth. It hasn't yet gone to court, so the guys allegations could be really be anything from the God's honest truth all the way to a complete fabrication. Yet there is a huge amount of irreparable damage by public stories like this. I was once personally on the receiving end of a complete false sexual harassment allegation from a coworker almost at random (someone I had almost no…

> I'm still a bit jaded that there are absolutely zero repercussions of making false claims.

There is this crime called "false accusation", you could have chased that?

Re: Google exec fired after female boss groped him at drunken bash, suit says

#102
post #2

This specific comment is so annoying >Olohan said he reported the issue to Google’s human resources department the following week, but nothing ever came of the complaint. The HR rep “openly admitted … that if the complaint was ‘in reverse’ — a female accusing a white male of harassment — the complaint would certainly be escalated,” according to the lawsuit.

tbh I'm not even sure that's true given Google's history with what high ranking execs got away with regardless of their gender. They settled a shareholder lawsuit for an entire series of mishandled sexual misconduct cases barely two years ago.

Re: Google exec fired after female boss groped him at drunken bash, suit says

#103
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Usually you mention that sort of compensation opportunity cost and the hiring company can match it with a sign on bonus to make a pain free transition.

We're really assuming a lot about the new employer here. Let's not get too smug about the great employment market we've had for the past decade. It may not last forever, or much longer. Also, it depends on the opportunity cost. It's great to think you're such a great guy that any employer will pay anything to have you, but that's simply not true for most people. If you're losing out on a major grant or bonus, that co…

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Re: Google exec fired after female boss groped him at drunken bash, suit says

#104

These stories leave a bad taste in my mouth. It hasn't yet gone to court, so the guys allegations could be really be anything from the God's honest truth all the way to a complete fabrication. Yet there is a huge amount of irreparable damage by public stories like this. I was once personally on the receiving end of a complete false sexual harassment allegation from a coworker almost at random (someone I had almost no…

That's generally the right way to approach things. And fortunately it seems like there will be some kind of paper trail here, so it should be relatively easy for it to be resolved quickly (probably settled out of court, if his description of things is accurate).

In other stories with other demographic characteristics, though, employers and the press (if it gets to that point) are not nearly so judicious in their evaluations.

Re: Google exec fired after female boss groped him at drunken bash, suit says

#105
post #18

Probably worth noting this story was first published by the New York Post. Take that for what you will. That said, this is a pretty wild turn of events. From the initial and continued sexual harassment/assault to the racism, and subsequent retaliation. More curious is the very direct "your team is too male" and the encouragement to fire someone. I've heard this hinted at before, but never said out loud for obvious re…

> Probably worth noting this story was first published by the New York Post. Take that for what you will. Instead of an ad hominem dogwhistle, please describe how the paper's political leanings could bias its reporting here. At face value, it's workplace sexual assault allegations with a power imbalance.

I think there is a general consensus that the New York Post has a credibility gap, so it is not "ad hominem dogwhistle". From it's Wikipedia article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Post):

"In a 2004 survey conducted by Pace University, the Post was rated the least-credible major news outlet in New York, and the only news outlet to receive more responses calling it "not credible" than credible (44% not credible to 39% credible).[65]

The Post commonly publishes news reports based entirely on reporting from other sources without independent corroboration. In January 2021, the paper forbade the use of CNN, MSNBC, The Washington Post, and The New York Times as sole sources for such stories.[66]"

65: Jonathan Trichter (June 16, 2004). "Tabloids, Broadsheets, and Broadcast News" (PDF). Pace Poll Survey Research Study. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 23, 2004. Retrieved June 7, 2007. 66: Robertson, Katie (January 13, 2021). "New York Post to Staff: Stay Away From CNN, MSNBC, New York Times and Washington Post". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 1, 2021.

Re: Google exec fired after female boss groped him at drunken bash, suit says

#106

I was interested to notice how I formed my initial guess about the man's credibility. The factors included: - How attractive was he vs. the woman? - I noticed he has 7 kids, and went to Providence College. So I'm guessing a devout Roman Catholic, which would mean he (publicly, at least) has a world view that values marital fidelity. - In his LinkedIn profile [0], he claims that his family started basically a charity…

I always try to avoid making a guess on someone's credibility in these situations. Such stories are usually polarised for various reasons. In the past, whenever I've made guesses, I'm wrong half the time. My reasoning for one situation was that the harasser was known for making dirty jokes and was misinterpreted, but oh no, he turned out to be a creep.

It's always horrifying to make the wrong call on this, so it's just best avoided until evidence on either side solidifies. We also want to create an environment safe for victims to speak up, even if that means false positives every now and then.

Re: Google exec fired after female boss groped him at drunken bash, suit says

#107
post #93
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That article doesn't seem to say he needed the job badly.

Not in those words, no. But if you're that resentful about being laid off, and talking to the media about what a cosmic injustice it is rather than, "oh, well, I guess I can start spending some of the interest on the fortune I built up from 16 years at Google", then yes, you do still need the job badly.

There are reasons beyond compensation to like a job (fulfillment, relationships, status, etc). If you want to do Google-scale anything, at best you've got 4 other companies to choose from. So you're going to feel hurt if you lose that opportunity for reasons you feel are beyond your control. Especially if you've put 16 years into it and you feel the loyalty is due back.

Re: Google exec fired after female boss groped him at drunken bash, suit says

#108
post #18

Probably worth noting this story was first published by the New York Post. Take that for what you will. That said, this is a pretty wild turn of events. From the initial and continued sexual harassment/assault to the racism, and subsequent retaliation. More curious is the very direct "your team is too male" and the encouragement to fire someone. I've heard this hinted at before, but never said out loud for obvious re…

> Probably worth noting this story was first published by the New York Post. Take that for what you will. Instead of an ad hominem dogwhistle, please describe how the paper's political leanings could bias its reporting here. At face value, it's workplace sexual assault allegations with a power imbalance.

I think OP might be pointing out the New York Post is seen as tabloidy

Re: Google exec fired after female boss groped him at drunken bash, suit says

#109

It was interesting watching Google's tolerance of alcohol slowly decrease from 14'-'20. I stopped going after my fourth or fifth company event, the last being where a fistfight broke out between two upper management individuals.

So you mean like metabolic tolerance?

Re: Google exec fired after female boss groped him at drunken bash, suit says

#110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> More curious is the very direct "your team is too male" and the encouragement to fire someone. Everyone in tech knows this is happening, and it's illegal, but nobody will do anything about it. Similar to ageism back in the 2000s.

Have you seen this first hand?

I saw this in academia over a decade ago.

Someone who was the ultimate decider said that the group already had enough "pale males;" a look was given to me and guy in the wheelchair because, by virtue of our disabilities, we were presumed to already be on the Yay Diversity! Squad, despite our pallor and penisness.

That was the phrase, I was in the room, etc. It doesn't just happen, they don't really try to hide it now.

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