Live data from Hacker News

James Damore has filed a class action lawsuit against Google

techcrunch.com

91–100 of 1001 posts

Re: James Damore has filed a class action lawsuit against Google

#91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is suggesting the distribution of certain qualities in men and women are different “repugnant crap”? There is ample evidence that men and women have behavioral differences. This exists across all mammals. I don’t know whether that makes the average man or average woman[1] better at any particular task, but it’s not an absurd hypothesis. Surely it’s worth reasoned consideration, not moral outrage at the very thoug…

When you're secretly so fearful it's true that you've got to use increasingly outrageous words to attack the idea

Really? You're implying I'm scared that it's true women aren't as good at engineering as men because of biology? I'm a dude. That makes zero sense.

I label it repugnant crap because it is. It's not based on scientific evidence or experience or anything except for pure misogyny.

Re: James Damore has filed a class action lawsuit against Google

#93
post #3

From the article: > women may not be equally represented in tech because they are biologically less capable of engineering Why do news outlets persistently misrepresent what he actually said? I've read his memo and just about every news article says it contains claims that it doesn't. I have no view on whether he's right or not, but I remain shocked at the misrepresentation of his views throughout the tech media.

Because the press loves polarization. Hitting sensitive nerves is the perfect click-bait. There is no sensible discussion possible anymore on this topic, so it is low hanging fruit.

Re: James Damore has filed a class action lawsuit against Google

#94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What wording do you suggest they use?

His memo was more along the lines of "women are less represented in tech because the industry does not favor their traits which are possibly a result of biological differences"

The article seems to have it correct to me?

From the memo:

"I’m simply stating that the distribution of preferences and abilities of men and women differ in part due to biological causes and that these differences may explain why we don’t see equal representation of women in tech and leadership"

preferences and abilities he says.

Re: James Damore has filed a class action lawsuit against Google

#95
> illegal hiring quotas

Whether or not this is illegal, or true, this is an anti-pattern. If you want representation (and PR) hiring quotas are great; however, if you truly want to empower they work against your goals. At the end of the day any person who walks into a job because of a quota will question, "did I get this job because of my gender/race/creed/orientation?" While you have provided them with opportunity it would be very difficult for that person to fairly evaluate themselves and especially determine whether they are making progress in their career.

Re: James Damore has filed a class action lawsuit against Google

#96

Just to clarify, is he stating he was fired due to his gender/political views? I would assume the literal army of attorneys will point to various violations of Code of Conduct or Employment Agreement Damore undoubtedly broke. He openly published a memo condemning his employer, tarnishing the brand and bringing the company under considerable negative press. I figure there must be some clause in any employment agreemen…

>openly published a memo

False. He published a memo internally for other Google employees in a culture of internal openness and intellectual discussion which had been implied to exist inside the company for a while.

His memo was then leaked outside the company, possibly by an ideological enemy. Hard to say he was "actively causing damage to the company".

Re: James Damore has filed a class action lawsuit against Google

#98

Is there actually any US law against discrimination based on political stance?

Not at the national level. In California the Fair Employment and Housing Act has a few nebulous clauses regarding political affiliation, but not enough to make a real case. For the most part political affiliation is not a protected category and in some cases an employer is allowed to explicitly discriminate based upon political affiliation (e.g. the CA Republican party can decide not to hire you because you have been a registered Democrat for the past decade, etc.)

Re: James Damore has filed a class action lawsuit against Google

#99
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a difference between "fewer women wind up having the skills for X" and "women are worse at X".

It's a little grating, to be honest. The tech world loves statistics and empirical research until it clashes with their world view.

What a ridiculous comment.

(a) There is no consistent world view for tens of millions of people distributed across the globe, (b) there is no research, none, that specifically states that women are genetically predisposed to be less suited to engineering and (c) there is no clear rules about what aspects of our biology are required to be a great engineer.

Re: James Damore has filed a class action lawsuit against Google

#100

Will watch this with interest AFAIK discriminating against conservative white men isn’t illegal. It’s not a protected class. There must be some twist here.

In California, workplace discrimination due to politics is illegal [1] In USA, discrimination due to sex is illegal. [1] https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySectio...

I don't understand why you're being downvoted. What you said is factually correct and relevant to the story.
Post reply on HN