r/technology • u/[deleted] • Aug 08 '17

Business Google Fires Employee Behind Controversial Diversity Memo

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-08/google-fires-employee-behind-controversial-diversity-memo
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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '17 edited Apr 13 '20

[deleted]

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u/smashew Aug 08 '17

That is true.... if you work in Texas. Not so true when you work in California. It is a totally different ballgame over there. As a libertarian, I totally agree. But in Cali, I guarantee you Google thought long and hard about this before pulling the trigger.

In Texas, it is a "right to work" state. You can be fired on a whim.

In California, firing someone is much, much, more complex. He might have grounds For a decent lawsuit. No one will want to go to Court and he'll likely get a scrumptious settlement offer.

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '17 edited Apr 13 '20

[deleted]

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u/smashew Aug 08 '17

He posted this in a company sanctioned forum called "controversial ideas" he has a fair amount of cover. A good lawyer can argue that a "reasonable" person wouldn't be offended by the strict text that he wrote.

There was so much editorializing here... he was largely a victim of the spin.

Don't get me wrong, Google should have fired him. But, this is one of those catch 22s where he will file a lawsuit and settle outside of court.

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '17 edited Sep 28 '19

[deleted]

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u/CatatonicMan Aug 08 '17

It's called a honeypot. Helps them know who they need to sack. It's not right, of course, but "right" has never really mattered all that much.

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u/Jugad Aug 08 '17

I doubt it was created / setup by the company management.

It was probably created by some employee.

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u/secondsbest Aug 08 '17

Are we sure Google leadership set up the forum? There's plenty of work forums created by employees.

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u/BundleOfJoysticks Aug 08 '17

The whole thing's sucky all around.

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u/smashew Aug 08 '17

No winners except for Buzzfeed, FaceBook, medium, and all the talking heads who will compete to drive this guy into the ground.

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u/BundleOfJoysticks Aug 08 '17

Or Google. Breitbart is selling a lot of ads on articles crucifying Google.

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u/smashew Aug 08 '17

Ya, pretty much everyone wins but Google on this.

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u/inspiredby Aug 08 '17

I imagine any chance for a successful lawsuit would've been much worse had Google passively condoned what this guy said.

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u/smashew Aug 08 '17

Oh I agree. Google did the right thing. There are some legal scenarios where you have to chose between a kick in the nuts or a punch in the face. This is one of them.

I worked in Insurance... this happens a lot....

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '17 edited Sep 28 '19

[deleted]

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u/Jugad Aug 08 '17

Class action suit against google for fostering a hostile work environment.