Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I am an Uber survivor

medium.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

561–570 of 841 posts

Re: I am an Uber survivor

#561

Post by rokhayakebe »

tyre wrote: post #210

I'm really happy she felt comfortable doing this. What an incredibly brave and strong person—I can't imagine what she must be feeling. What I really want to see is the other 20 men on her team tell their bosses to cut that shit out. We cannot rely on the abused to stand up for themselves; for every one who does there are thousands who cannot. It is on every one of us to report abhorrent behaviour, even if we think so…

What I really want to see is the other 20 men on her team tell their bosses to cut that shit out.

Agreed 100%, but maaaan I have seen it where you would defend someone just so they can turn against you because of the same fear that originally prevented them from speaking out loud. Then they make peace with the abuser and now you are the one left holding the burning candle. It is a very tricky situation.

Re: I am an Uber survivor

#562

Post by r00fus »

bigiain wrote: post #451
r00fus wrote: post #313

Are there any female Uber employees on HN? I wonder what they think about a) the veracity of this claim and b) why they are sticking with Uber.

What do _you_ think about "the veracity of this claim"? Is there really _any_ doubt in your mind about Uber's management and culture? Seriously?

I think it's legit. I wanted to solicit an insider's view, though I agree it may not be practical as I probably wouldn't post on HN even if I agreed.

Re: I am an Uber survivor

#563

Post by Justsignedup »

_yosefk wrote: post #363
macsj200 wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What specifically is the move forward here, though? I suppose hn as a community has the power to boycott applying to the company, but how else can we drive internal change from an external position? Uninstalling the app and simply choosing to use a competitor's services are another option, but sapping the entire organization of revenue seems like it would hurt drivers and developers at least as much as management, if…

OK Cupid blocked Firefox, a non-profit with less questionable business practices than most tech companies and certainly Uber, over Eich's quiet private donation which ought to be a smaller deal than systematic sexual harassment with consequences for victims instead of perpetrators (although the donation was proven while the harassment is alleged; I doubt this tips the scales of public sentiment though.) The overall r…

an interesting debate. if i build my company on abuse and shady tactics, but i now employ 10,000 employees, is it okay to let me get away with it because so many depend on me? This is the too-big-to-fail issue.

Re: I am an Uber survivor

#564

Post by epx »

wvenable wrote: post #493
tyre wrote: post #210

I'm really happy she felt comfortable doing this. What an incredibly brave and strong person—I can't imagine what she must be feeling. What I really want to see is the other 20 men on her team tell their bosses to cut that shit out. We cannot rely on the abused to stand up for themselves; for every one who does there are thousands who cannot. It is on every one of us to report abhorrent behaviour, even if we think so…

> What I really want to see is the other 20 men on her team tell their bosses to cut that shit out. It sounds like the abuse is pretty universal, from the article: "It was normal for guys to refer to other guys as fags when they didn't participate in private parties where sex and drugs were involved." The 20 other men on her team were probably as concerned with keeping their job and not being abused. The big differen…

20 idiots!!

Re: I am an Uber survivor

#565

Post by st3v3r »

mememachine wrote: post #397
st3v3r wrote: post #322

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"If they dont stand up for themselves on any level, then they simply arent being abused" This is, hands down, the worst take ever.

Care to explain? If your "explanation" is just dramatic grandstanding, ill be disappointed.

Abuse has absolutely NOTHING to do with whether or not the victim feels they can safely report it. NOTHING.

End of story.

Re: I am an Uber survivor

#566

Post by lr4444lr »

enraged_camel wrote: post #547
lr4444lr wrote: post #462

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But the OP's point stands generally: If this were a smear campaign by a competing company, how different would it look? I sympathize greatly with Ms. Fowler not least because she put her reputation out there and claimed to have documentation of the specific offenses, which a decently respectable journalism outfit like the NYTimes could fact-check. Fowler's story could be exaggerated, but I have reasonable doubt that…

These women are victims of harassment and abuse. It seems very unfair to expect them to also put their personal reputation on the line before we finally take them seriously. That's a very high bar to clear and it's the reason why so few women speak out publicly. That's why we must encourage, not discourage, anonymous disclosures, and give them the benefit of the doubt.

I have a strong allegiance to the American justice principles of innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt, right to face one's accuser in open court, cross examination, and standards of evidence. So much so that I apply it to judging controversial current events like this. Much as I might dislike putting a powerful entity like Uber into the defendant's chair with those attendant protections, These principles and others have served me extremely well in suspending belief and not being led astray by sensationa news and consequently looking hotheaded and foolish when time bears out the details of the story.

You may feel otherwise, and I cannot and will not attempt to persuade you otherwise. But as I said before, I believe Ms. Fowler at this point, and take issue with Amy's claim on falsifiability grounds. "We" are under no obligation to take any particular person seriously. There are strong labor laws against the transgressions claimed, and if there are problems with enforcement or efficiency, I am all for examining our procedures, but I won't sacrifice the bedrock of fair and individualized consideration of the particular case within the storm of the prevailing dysfunction.

Re: I am an Uber survivor

#567

Post by shas3 »

tps5 wrote: post #554

Just an aside, I think it's insane that women in tech are pressured (or feel pressured) to wear heels. Is this common in California?

> Just an aside, I think it's insane that women are pressured (or feel pressured) to wear heels. Is this common in California?

FTFY.

Re: I am an Uber survivor

#568

Post by ssalazar »

rapfaria wrote: post #445
TorKlingberg wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

Agreed, and I'm not defending Mike#2 in any way, but good men perhaps have children. Mortgage. Family plans and life goals. It's a really shitty situation. Perhaps evil triumphs if great men do nothing?

Thats a little hyperbolic. These aren't rust belt coal miners. With a name brand like Uber on your resume you could quickly get plenty of competitive job offers in SF/SV without even trying. Its hard for me to see an excuse for this, other than widespread cultural acceptance/willful ignorance of these practices.

Re: I am an Uber survivor

#569

Post by blacksqr »

ForHackernews wrote: post #434
uptownfunk wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I've watched too much Suits and The Good Wife, but it just seems that it's all futile. They're a huge corp, if you file suit against them they'll hit back harder with bigger and badder lawyers, and you either settle out of court, or play the lotto with the court system and try your hand at a judgement with whatever lawyers you can afford. It's really sad how stacked the odds seem.

Uber is sitting on billions of dollars of VC money. I'm sure that there are some very high-powered law firms out there salivating at the chance to represent these women in a class-action lawsuit. Maybe the victims won't get as much recompense as they deserve (because so much of the judgement will go to attorneys), but I would not be so sure that Uber will have them outgunned in court. At the very least, it could teac…

I'm afraid you have a poor idea of what makes high-powered law firms salivate. When they see someone sitting on a pile of billions of dollars, they don't think "how can I piss that person and all his friends off?" They think "how can become that person's best buddy?"

Re: I am an Uber survivor

#570

Post by EpicEng »

vonmoltke wrote: post #276
EpicEng wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eric Holder was AG. AG is not a political office, and he's not a politician. What you should be concerned with is the fact that he was associated with them previously and is a proponent of theirs.

> AG is not a political office, and he's not a politician. AG is a Presidential appointment with Congressional confirmation. While those appointed are not necessarily politicians, it is most certainly a political position.

It is most certainly not. By your definition any appointee is a 'political position'. That term has a real meaning in the circles which matter (i.e., politics), and AG is not considered a political position. That's not to say an AG is completely separate from political realities, but the office is (supposed to be) non-partisan.
Post reply on HN