Update on an Employee Matter • Hacker News Board

Re: Update on an Employee Matter

#31

Post by blueplanet200 » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 6:07 PM UTC

surfer7837 wrote: post #25

I've just seen the screenshots from https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/15/22232766/github-employees... You just shouldn't be speaking like that in a company Slack channel. Politics should really not be discussed at work, and especially not in a public Slack channel. It's not the right place for it. It makes me not want to work there if they are discussing politics all day in a public Slack channel

I don’t think pointing out nazis at the capitol is politics.

Healthcare policy is politics, the election is politics. Pointing out nazis at an armed insurrection? No.

Re: Update on an Employee Matter

#32

Post by marcinzm » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 6:07 PM UTC

surfer7837 wrote: post #25

I've just seen the screenshots from https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/15/22232766/github-employees... You just shouldn't be speaking like that in a company Slack channel. Politics should really not be discussed at work, and especially not in a public Slack channel. It's not the right place for it. It makes me not want to work there if they are discussing politics all day in a public Slack channel

This isn't politics really as I see it, it's a heads up to fellow coworkers about a factually dangerous situation in their area. There were factually neo-nazis running about DC causing havoc.

Re: Update on an Employee Matter

#33

Post by nailer » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 6:08 PM UTC

throwawaygh wrote: post #23

School-Cotton wrote: post #5

Is there any context available on what the employee was accused of doing?

The employee made comments on internal slack channels warning their coworkers in DC to be careful because there were a large number of nazis at the Capitol. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ery62NKUcAY6DlR?format=jpg&name=...

Further: the employee was seen to be mischaracterising the protestors/rioters (take your pic) as nazis.

The claims 'there were literal nazi flags' (see https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8a1wytwIU2Ic52sok2ly14RUQNM=...) seem to based on the very broad assumption that Confederate, Kekistan, upside down US flags, 'release the kraken' etc flags are Nazis.

See https://qz.com/1953366/decoding-the-pro-trump-insurrectionis... for an example.

Update: this comment has been been flagged, but let me point out:

1. The comment was 'there were literal nazi flags'. We are still at 0 nazi flags.

2. The 'six million' shirt pointed out by Griffinsauce below wasn't from the Capitol: https://forward.com/fast-forward/461761/fact-check-the-6-mil...

The guy in the Auschwitz hoodie is a nazi and obviously an even bigger moron than the other rioters but maybe we'd be able to find out more about actual extremists if we didn't label everything we don't like as extremist?

Re: Update on an Employee Matter

#34

Post by read_if_gay_ » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 6:09 PM UTC

zaksoup wrote: post #27

bmiller2 wrote: post #13

Well they left all the juicy parts out Context: https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/15/22232766/github-employees... I can’t believe people talk like this on a work public channel.

I want to say: I don't talk as casually as this in a work channel, though I do sometimes discuss politics and current events. That's not because I don't think it's professional, but rather because I'm jewish and what happened to this employee feels like a very present threat. It is a well-documented fact that neo-nazi hate groups were a significant presence in the riot and preceding "protest" at the capital. Stating…

> Stating that fact ultimately lead to a nazi-apologist coworker denying it

Where?

Re: Update on an Employee Matter

#35

Post by skywhopper » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 6:09 PM UTC

chmod600 wrote: post #8

What was the improper reason for termination? I'm guessing that the employee had some distant political alignment with the insurrectionists, but not close enough to warrant disciplinary action?

Terrible guess.

Re: Update on an Employee Matter

#36

Post by nailer » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 6:09 PM UTC

blueplanet200 wrote: post #31

surfer7837 wrote: post #25

I've just seen the screenshots from https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/15/22232766/github-employees... You just shouldn't be speaking like that in a company Slack channel. Politics should really not be discussed at work, and especially not in a public Slack channel. It's not the right place for it. It makes me not want to work there if they are discussing politics all day in a public Slack channel

I don’t think pointing out nazis at the capitol is politics. Healthcare policy is politics, the election is politics. Pointing out nazis at an armed insurrection? No.

Can you show us evidence of the nazis? I can't find anything beyond somewhat obscure links between eg "Don't tread on me", "Release the kraken", the OK symbol and nazism when searching.

Re: Update on an Employee Matter

#37

Post by BuildTheRobots » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 6:09 PM UTC

you_are_naive wrote: post #22

I am afraid to ask this but can someone explain the "nazi joke" to me?

> "Nazis gave the Jews free healthcare"

It's not a joke. I can only assume this is a reference to the abhorrent "medical" experiments the Nazis were doing on prisoners, Dr Death being one of the more famous proponents.

The wikipedia article barely scratches the surface of the depravity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_human_experimentation

Re: Update on an Employee Matter

#38

Post by surfer7837 » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 6:10 PM UTC

marcinzm wrote: post #32

surfer7837 wrote: post #25

I've just seen the screenshots from https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/15/22232766/github-employees... You just shouldn't be speaking like that in a company Slack channel. Politics should really not be discussed at work, and especially not in a public Slack channel. It's not the right place for it. It makes me not want to work there if they are discussing politics all day in a public Slack channel

This isn't politics really as I see it, it's a heads up to fellow coworkers about a factually dangerous situation in their area. There were factually neo-nazis running about DC causing havoc.

I didn't realise they were all in DC, I thought GitHub was in the valley?

Re: Update on an Employee Matter

#39

Post by marcinzm » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 6:10 PM UTC

nailer wrote: post #36

blueplanet200 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think pointing out nazis at the capitol is politics. Healthcare policy is politics, the election is politics. Pointing out nazis at an armed insurrection? No.

Can you show us evidence of the nazis? I can't find anything beyond somewhat obscure links between eg "Don't tread on me", "Release the kraken", the OK symbol and nazism when searching.

From a right wing newspaper so you can't claim liberal bias: https://nypost.com/2021/01/06/neo-nazis-among-protesters-who...

Re: Update on an Employee Matter

#40

Post by silexia » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 6:10 PM UTC

surfer7837 wrote: post #25

I've just seen the screenshots from https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/15/22232766/github-employees... You just shouldn't be speaking like that in a company Slack channel. Politics should really not be discussed at work, and especially not in a public Slack channel. It's not the right place for it. It makes me not want to work there if they are discussing politics all day in a public Slack channel

I agree completely... Then to try to hold a "empathy circle" to resolve the concerns raised by it...

Glad I don't work there!