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I was laid off in retaliation for anti-discrimination whistleblowing

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Re: I was laid off in retaliation for anti-discrimination whistleblowing

#191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if you don’t like your manager, taking the view that if you escalate a formal complaint to HR (in doing so lose all trust you manager and HR may have in you), you’ll be vindicated and live on happily ever after… it’s a fairytale. Go work somewhere that makes you happy. Leave toxic environments - it’s not your job to fix them/right wrongs. Know where it's not a fairytale? Unionized workplaces. Source: I know several…

My first job was at a unionized workplace. I ended up doing more work to cover the guy that was loafing around under the protection of the union. Who protects you from the protectors? Rational or not, since that time, I am suspicious of the personal work ethic of those arguing for unions.

Lol

Re: I was laid off in retaliation for anti-discrimination whistleblowing

#192
post #158

My read: Person A was potentially discriminated against, which combined with the previous incident of discrimination understandably got the author's hackles raised. Person B may have been fired for any number of reasons, very few of which are any of the author's business. I've had to fire people who were viewed as great by their peers because they were browsing illegal porn at work, or because they sexually harassed…

If you are hiring people that later need to be fired for doing porn, heroin, sexual harassment,... Maybe the problem is not them.

What a wild assertion.

For many of these problems, the only way you might know ahead of time is if you did a really extensive background check. Such a process would mostly be a waste.

It's perfectly reasonable and fair to hire people, provide clear standards of conduct, and fire those who fail the standard.

Re: I was laid off in retaliation for anti-discrimination whistleblowing

#194
post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please actually respond to the points made given their most charitable interpretation, as the guidelines suggest.

I did. You can mince words, but it's still blaming the victim. Telling people who get bullied in the workplace to just accept it and to get a new job is insane.

There is a difference between saying a victim, rather than the perpetrator, is to blame for the abuse (actual victim blaming) and saying the victim had the power to avoid it.

If I go to a dangerous part of town and get mugged, it's perfectly reasonable to ask how I could have avoided being mugged. That does not mean I am to blame, or that the mugger should not be arrested.

Re: I was laid off in retaliation for anti-discrimination whistleblowing

#195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Without taking any position on this post itself or flagging of it: flagging has just become abusive. It needs serious reform, @dang. I can't speak for the original rationale, but it seems like the intent must be to remove posts or comments that are clearly offensive on some semi-legal grounds (obscene, advocating violence, etc.) Now it's become just "I don't like this." There are many possible reforms, but off the to…

I flagged it because it's exhausting sociopolitical drivel that has nothing to do with tech. If the company discriminated against this person, then prove it in court. Nobody here has sufficient information to make a determination one way or another. And none of us has an obligation to take the author at their word.

That's it. I'm done.

Been a Hacker News user since this launched, but have been feeling increasingly like I'm not part of this culture and don't want to be part of this culture anymore. So I'm out.

It's sad and kind of tragic to see what was once a thriving, diverse community that embraced all types of marginalized people (nerds, engineers, geeks, and so on) become a cesspool of bigotry and hate speech.

And the real tragedy, of course, is that Hacker News is just a microcosm of the developer culture -- which has become disgusting and hateful.

I hope those of you who are not bigots manage to fix this place. I hope the developer culture becomes healthier and less toxic. But I'm not going to be around to help or see it. Y'all are too exhausting and depressing.

Peace out.

Re: I was laid off in retaliation for anti-discrimination whistleblowing

#196
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My first job was at a unionized workplace. I ended up doing more work to cover the guy that was loafing around under the protection of the union. Who protects you from the protectors? Rational or not, since that time, I am suspicious of the personal work ethic of those arguing for unions.

Why didn't you just not cover for him?

I didn't know better and after experiencing the consequences of my father loafing through life, I was determined to work hard. I was 18 and working my way through college (couldn't get loans or family aid). I grew up in right-to-work states, but went to college in a union state, so I wasn't really familiar with the dynamics.

Re: I was laid off in retaliation for anti-discrimination whistleblowing

#197
post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I flagged it because it's exhausting sociopolitical drivel that has nothing to do with tech. If the company discriminated against this person, then prove it in court. Nobody here has sufficient information to make a determination one way or another. And none of us has an obligation to take the author at their word.

That's it. I'm done. Been a Hacker News user since this launched, but have been feeling increasingly like I'm not part of this culture and don't want to be part of this culture anymore. So I'm out. It's sad and kind of tragic to see what was once a thriving, diverse community that embraced all types of marginalized people (nerds, engineers, geeks, and so on) become a cesspool of bigotry and hate speech. And the real…

Embracing marginalized people doesn't mean automatically taking the side of the accuser in an employment discrimination case, based on a one-sided blog post with no factual evidence presented. That's just mob politics, and I'm perfectly within my rights to flag the post, just like I'm within my rights to explain why I flagged it when someone asks.

It's ironic that you labeled my comment hate speech and essentially called me a bigot, despite knowing nothing about me aside from my username.

Re: I was laid off in retaliation for anti-discrimination whistleblowing

#198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did. You can mince words, but it's still blaming the victim. Telling people who get bullied in the workplace to just accept it and to get a new job is insane.

There is a difference between saying a victim, rather than the perpetrator, is to blame for the abuse (actual victim blaming) and saying the victim had the power to avoid it. If I go to a dangerous part of town and get mugged, it's perfectly reasonable to ask how I could have avoided being mugged. That does not mean I am to blame, or that the mugger should not be arrested.

Do you also think women should not be allowed to wear revealing clothes, lest they get raped? I hope not. People deserve to be themselves without getting raped, or bullied.

Re: I was laid off in retaliation for anti-discrimination whistleblowing

#199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> exhausting sociopolitical drivel That quote would be exhibit A for antipathy, rather than "uninteresting"

No, I do mean to say it's uninteresting, because I can predict all the replies. Without any factual basis for discussion, it will inevitably devolve into a predictable - and thus uninteresting - argument rooted in opposing idealogical positions of a culture war.

If the linked article does not contravene any of HNs guidelines, all your predictions on how the conversation could turn out still does not meet the bar for flagging.

Re: I was laid off in retaliation for anti-discrimination whistleblowing

#200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, I do mean to say it's uninteresting, because I can predict all the replies. Without any factual basis for discussion, it will inevitably devolve into a predictable - and thus uninteresting - argument rooted in opposing idealogical positions of a culture war.

If the linked article does not contravene any of HNs guidelines, all your predictions on how the conversation could turn out still does not meet the bar for flagging.

The "bar for flagging" is 500 karma. Anyone with the "flag" button can click it, and it's up to the moderators to decide how to interpret that (for example, they might ignore flags from users with a history of frivolous flagging, or hide the story if a sufficient number of users flag it).

There is no "linked article." It's a biased blog post by an accuser who is making public accusations against a company, without offering documentary evidence or describing the other side of the story.

I wouldn't flag an article titled "Rune Labs found guilty of employment discrimination by the California Labor Board." But I don't feel it's appropriate, nor is it intellectually interesting, to discuss the smell of someone's dirty laundry when we have no unbiased information as to how it got so dirty. That's why I flagged it, and I'm not going to apologize for that.

For all we know the post is inaccurate or libelous. To me, it reads like an attempt to incite a mob against the plausibly innocent leadership of a company. We simply do not have the information to decide one way or the other, because the author offered no documentary evidence nor did they offer the company an opportunity to defend itself.

While I don't support discriminating against anyone, I also don't support publicly attacking people who are just trying to do their job and build a successful company. The leadership at Rune Labs - which is a company I've never heard of btw - is comprised of people, too. Shouldn't they be entitled to the same benefit of the doubt as the accuser?

Go to court, win the case, then come back with an article about the disgusting bigots at Rune Labs. Until then I'm going to flag the post out of respect for the accused, and in the interest of promoting fairness for all involved parties. Above all, I'm going to flag the post because it's my right to do that, and it's a way of casting a vote against HN turning into a forum for rage politics and mob justice. We have Twitter for that.

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