Omaha man ‘liked’ a tweet, then lost his job • Hacker News Board

Re: Omaha man ‘liked’ a tweet, then lost his job

#321

Post by gambiting » Sat, Mar 24, 2018, 7:14 AM UTC

cylinder wrote: post #54

corobo wrote: post #21

The meat of the story is that Omaha man worked for Marriott hotels on customer support. Their support system allows their agents to like tweets. The man appears to have inadvertently clicked like on a tweet while dealing with a large influx of support messages (due to a promo going on) thanking Marriott for listing Tibet as its own country which was a huge no-no due to Mariott's presence in China. Execs fire him as a…

The real story is he has no employment rights because he's in America and he's "at will." They can dismiss him because they don't like his lunch selection that day and he has no rights. That's at will employment. This type of situation plays out all over the country everyday.

Yep, once again, the real upsetting thing here is how US companies can just fire employees on the spot. That's just crazy.

Re: Omaha man ‘liked’ a tweet, then lost his job

#322

Post by skookumchuck » Sat, Mar 24, 2018, 7:15 AM UTC

John_KZ wrote: post #210

greglindahl wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey, I'm all in favor of you working on new ideas, but only within an existing corporate environment. But there's plenty of proof that that's a terrible way to advance society at large.

If a number of people(experienced/experts in a field) are willing to volunteer their time and/or capital in exchange for equity/patents/stock, then it's all good. My problem lies with externalizing the cost and risk to employees. If they need something done and they can't guarantee long-term employment, they can buy commercial services for what they need. Engineering firms and temp offices will be happy to send you a…

> My problem lies with externalizing the cost and risk to employees.

It's really not your business what other people freely choose to do with their time. Nobody makes anyone work at a startup.

Re: Omaha man ‘liked’ a tweet, then lost his job

#323

Post by skookumchuck » Sat, Mar 24, 2018, 7:17 AM UTC

somethingsimple wrote: post #228

badosu wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not sure about that... Not in Brazil at least

One of the few things I miss about Brazil is how much more protection I had there as a worker compared to the US.

I didn't realize Brazil had an affluent economy with a high standard of living.

Re: Omaha man ‘liked’ a tweet, then lost his job

#324

Post by gt_ » Sat, Mar 24, 2018, 7:18 AM UTC

quadrangle wrote: post #252

gnicholas wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see this pro-worker sentiment on HN pretty regularly. But I also see the "hire slow, fire fast" mantra. Are these views held by different people, or by the same people regarding different situations (like working for big companies versus startups)?

different people most likely is my guess

I wouldn’t be surprised by anything. Americans are shameless contortionists in the act of justifying inhumane business practices.

Re: Omaha man ‘liked’ a tweet, then lost his job

#325

Post by Buge » Sat, Mar 24, 2018, 7:20 AM UTC

nicolas_t wrote: post #212

zapita wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is incorrect. The French like to complain about their taxes, but it's not that different from California. Employee protection regulation absolutely is problematic in France, because it over-protect relatively small groups at the expense of everyone else. Small and medium-sized businesses are most affected by this. The transition from 40-ish people to 200-ish people is where the system really breaks down for Fren…

No different than California? Let's see. I don't know the numbers well in Cali but I know what I paid in France. I'd be curious to see what one would pay in California for a similar situation. For a 100,000 euros income as a sole proprietorship, I paid 42% altogether. From those 42%, 7% were income tax, the remaining 35% were Charges sociales which covers healthcare, unemployment and retirement benefits. When French…

100k euros would be ~$124k. At that salary if you are single your marginal tax rate would be 28% federal + 6.2% employee social security + 6.2% employer social security + 1.45% employee medicare + 1.45% employer medicare + 9.3% California income + 0.9% California disability insurance = 53.5%. This doesn't include unemployment taxes (California or federal) which might be another 0.3-0.5%. Though for real math, the employer paid taxes should increase the denominator when calculating rate. This number includes employer-paid taxes, but you were doing the same.

Of course effective tax rate is much lower than marginal tax rate. Effective federal income tax would be 17.1%, effective California income tax would be 6.9%. This would make effective total tax 40.2% (it was 42.6% in 2017, before Trump's tax cuts).

Re: Omaha man ‘liked’ a tweet, then lost his job

#326

Post by garmaine » Sat, Mar 24, 2018, 7:21 AM UTC

nostrademons wrote: post #161

garmaine wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Californian here. Why would that be “offensive”?

Relevant PG essay: http://www.paulgraham.com/say.html "The statements that make people mad are the ones they worry might be believed." At present, the idea that California might be returned to Mexico or that all non-native-Americans might be kicked out of America is sufficiently ridiculous that nobody will take you seriously. Thus, there's no reason to get offended. You can say whatever you want, you're just a nutcas…

I don't think you interpreted what I was saying correctly. Why should I be offended at the idea of the idea of my state joining my state seriously joining the Mexican federation?

Re: Omaha man ‘liked’ a tweet, then lost his job

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Post by garmaine » Sat, Mar 24, 2018, 7:23 AM UTC

mirimir wrote: post #222

garmaine wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Californian here. Why would that be “offensive”?

Maybe not now. But 100 years ago, it certainly would. And that's about where China is now, regarding Tibet, and such autonomous regions as Xinjiang. It takes time for opinions to go from offensive to laughable.

I'm not laughing. I'm seriously confused as to why I'm supposed to be offended at the prospect of becoming mexican. Is that supposed to be lower status or something? I can't think of a reason here that would be offensive which doesn't boil down to underlying racism or anachronistic nationalism.

Re: Omaha man ‘liked’ a tweet, then lost his job

#328

Post by factsaresacred » Sat, Mar 24, 2018, 7:25 AM UTC

Lazare wrote: post #106

I find stories like this very frustrating. It seems pretty clear that: 1) Roy Jones did nothing wrong, but lost his job through no fault of his own. 2) Marriott did something morally wrong because it was easy, and will suffer zero consequences. 3) China doesn't really care about the underlying issue, but is engaging in a cynical power play to exert dominance. In a better world, Marriott would have refused to buckle,…

> China doesn't really care about the underlying issue, but is engaging in a cynical power play to exert dominance.

Boy, I wish that was true. China is petulant beyond belief. A thousands years old civilization that rallies their netizens any time anybody dare "insult the feelings of the Chinese people".

That's how illegitimate and insecure powers behave.

Re: Omaha man ‘liked’ a tweet, then lost his job

#329

Post by Zanni » Sat, Mar 24, 2018, 7:25 AM UTC

skookumchuck wrote: post #315

um_ya wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can confirm, I run a business. The biggest expense to my company are the employees. All the regulatory requirements and bullshit that comes along with it, not to mention the risk of an employee suing the company for whatever reason. There's a lot of risk hiring employees, that's why I try to minimize the number of employees I have to hire, whenever possible.

Simply put, the harder it is to fire someone, the harder it will be to get a job.

Came here to say exactly this. Barriers to exit are barriers to entry.

Re: Omaha man ‘liked’ a tweet, then lost his job

#330

Post by beagle3 » Sat, Mar 24, 2018, 7:25 AM UTC

greglindahl wrote: post #174

eagsalazar2 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Forcing employers to keep employees they don't like, for any reason beyond discrimination, isn't the answer. The better answer is, IMO, better social safety net so people making $14/hr don't end up on the streets just because their job goes away.

Denmark is famous for having a social safety net that makes sure laid-off employees have the skills to get a new job. It's a happy medium between excessive employee protections and lack of employee protections.

Safety net is definitely there, but my Dane friends actually told me it’s really bad for small businesses to the point that small businesses won’t hire for desperately needed work because it is impossibly expensive to let anyone go.