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Employee commits suicide after MongoDB fired her during mental health leave

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Re: Employee commits suicide after MongoDB fired her during mental health leave

#41

Post by xvxvx »

From their site: 'Employee mental health and wellbeing is another core focus at MongoDB. It’s important for us to help break the stigma around mental health and provide our employees with the support they need, especially at work. We are dedicated to providing our employees with valuable tools to face all of life’s challenges and offer mental health programs that provide confidential assistance from qualified professionals.'

https://www.mongodb.com/company/blog/culture/employee-benefi...

Never trust this horseshit!

Re: Employee commits suicide after MongoDB fired her during mental health leave

#42

Post by toss1 »

GiorgioG wrote: post #11
simmerup wrote: post #3

Really quite nasty of the company.

[flagged]

But this is particularly egregious

>>"...She asked for an extension to complete her treatment, or at the least a short period to consult with her medical providers about whether and how she might be able to return to work before the treatment was completed. .."

>>"An extension of Annie’s leave would have cost MongoDB nothing. We made it clear that they did not need to pay her or hold her job open for her. We just asked them not to fire her while she was in such a vulnerable state, as we feared that would result in tragedy. We just wanted a little more time to get her stabilized."

There is no plausible need of management that would outweigh simply letting someone stay on the books as "employed-on-unpaid-leave" for some extra weeks or months.

Whoever did this should be held personally responsible for negligent harm.

And yeah, never touching their software, IDGAF how useful it is.

Sickening

Re: Employee commits suicide after MongoDB fired her during mental health leave

#43

Post by jrflowers »

GiorgioG wrote: post #11
simmerup wrote: post #3

Really quite nasty of the company.

[flagged]

> Really quite nasty of the company.

> This is a sad situation

I like this post where you agree with the person you’re replying to and then imagine somebody posting “Wow this was so unexpected because my worldview does not have room for companies to be mean, can somebody explain this??” and calling out that imaginary poster for being naive.

Re: Employee commits suicide after MongoDB fired her during mental health leave

#44

Post by stavros »

GiorgioG wrote: post #40
stavros wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Companies are made of people. Companies only use people if the people who make up the companies are ok with it. Being a decisionmaker in a company doesn't give you carte blanche to behave like an amoral automaton. So no, MongoDB are assholes for doing this. They could have had some humanity and prioritized human well-being over cost savings.

I did not say MongoDB weren’t being assholes here. I’m saying asshole behavior is the norm and should be expected. I have an excellent boss (and his boss is fantastically supportive too). Several coworkers have needed leave for sometimes weeks and they have accommodated them. I don’t expect this is the norm or written in our company policies.

I disagree, if you expect asshole behaviour, you make it the norm. Expect the behaviour you want, and complain when the standard isn't met. That's how you raise the bar.

Re: Employee commits suicide after MongoDB fired her during mental health leave

#46

Post by emerongi »

aeternum wrote: post #8

Sad. And perhaps a controversial take but consider the counterfactual: Should it be illegal to fire employees that recent took mental health leave? Get a bad review or put on a PIP? It's already becoming a common strategy to immediately take mental health/sick leave.

> It's already becoming a common strategy

I've taken mental health leave (not due to a PIP) and my productivity before and after was significantly different. It was great for my employer that I took it. I'm quite sure I would've eventually ended up with a PIP if I hadn't taken it sooner myself, and the best remedy on a PIP would have been to take mental health leave. Not as a strategy as such, but literally because it would have been the best solution (and I think the only one).

Re: Employee commits suicide after MongoDB fired her during mental health leave

#47

Post by emerongi »

xvxvx wrote: post #41

From their site: 'Employee mental health and wellbeing is another core focus at MongoDB. It’s important for us to help break the stigma around mental health and provide our employees with the support they need, especially at work. We are dedicated to providing our employees with valuable tools to face all of life’s challenges and offer mental health programs that provide confidential assistance from qualified profess…

All public culture documents are bullshit. It always comes down to your direct manager and what they believe in.

Re: Employee commits suicide after MongoDB fired her during mental health leave

#48

Post by burnto »

stavros wrote: post #28
GiorgioG wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Companies are made of people. Companies only use people if the people who make up the companies are ok with it. Being a decisionmaker in a company doesn't give you carte blanche to behave like an amoral automaton. So no, MongoDB are assholes for doing this. They could have had some humanity and prioritized human well-being over cost savings.

Groups of people don’t act with the same ethics as individuals.

Yes, companies are made of people, but behave differently than people.

Re: Employee commits suicide after MongoDB fired her during mental health leave

#49

Post by stavros »

burnto wrote: post #48
stavros wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Companies are made of people. Companies only use people if the people who make up the companies are ok with it. Being a decisionmaker in a company doesn't give you carte blanche to behave like an amoral automaton. So no, MongoDB are assholes for doing this. They could have had some humanity and prioritized human well-being over cost savings.

Groups of people don’t act with the same ethics as individuals. Yes, companies are made of people, but behave differently than people.

Yes, this is the justification decisionmakers use to shirk moral responsibility for their decisions.
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