4 ms·

Appears to be a fairly standard, boiler-plate separation agreement.

by avree 10y ago

dsr_ 10y ago
With the very standard "we will pay you a month's extra salary if you agree not to sue us or disparage us" stanza that happens when someone is not leaving entirely voluntarily. IMO, if Tor thought that he had a reasonable case against them, they would increase that to substantially more.
- sseveran 10y ago
  Maybe someone didn't want him to sign. $8333 pre tax seems a little low if they actually wanted the document to be executed.
  - dsr_ 10y ago
    No, it means that they don't feel he has a case against them. Without some compensation, there's no reason for him to sign anything at all. If they don't want it executed, they can just not offer any money: pay him what he's owed, and remind him of any outstanding agreements in either direction. If they offered him more than 6 months salary, I would expect that to be (a) an indication that they really want to avoid a court case and (b) in a document that laid out much more specific terms. One month of salary says "we don't think you have a case at all, but just in case you were thinking about it, take this and go". If it were a break-even for-profit business, that might go as far as two months of salary -- Appelbaum's been there for about 8 years. It's really not suspicious to me.
    - sseveran 10y ago
      I don't think its suspicious. I would say it indicates that they don't expect to be sued, not that it doesn't think it will win on merits. Simply calling up outside counsel to prepare for a lawsuit would cost way more than $8300. So it would seem that either they don't expect to be sued or don't care if he signs the document.
infodroid 10y ago
The scope of the mutual non-disparagement clause seems excessively broad. Why would a computer security researcher sign away his right to criticize the products, services, vendors and affiliates of the leading anonymous communication tool?

Appears to be a fairly standard, boiler-plate separation agreement.

by avree 10y ago

Appears to be a fairly standard, boiler-plate separation agreement.

dsr_ 10y ago

With the very standard "we will pay you a month's extra salary if you agree not to sue us or disparage us" stanza that happens when someone is not leaving entirely voluntarily. IMO, if Tor thought that he had a reasonable case against them, they would increase that to substantially more.

sseveran 10y ago
Maybe someone didn't want him to sign. $8333 pre tax seems a little low if they actually wanted the document to be executed.
- dsr_ 10y ago
  No, it means that they don't feel he has a case against them. Without some compensation, there's no reason for him to sign anything at all. If they don't want it executed, they can just not offer any money: pay him what he's owed, and remind him of any outstanding agreements in either direction. If they offered him more than 6 months salary, I would expect that to be (a) an indication that they really want to avoid a court case and (b) in a document that laid out much more specific terms. One month of salary says "we don't think you have a case at all, but just in case you were thinking about it, take this and go". If it were a break-even for-profit business, that might go as far as two months of salary -- Appelbaum's been there for about 8 years. It's really not suspicious to me.
  - sseveran 10y ago
    I don't think its suspicious. I would say it indicates that they don't expect to be sued, not that it doesn't think it will win on merits. Simply calling up outside counsel to prepare for a lawsuit would cost way more than $8300. So it would seem that either they don't expect to be sued or don't care if he signs the document.

infodroid 10y ago

The scope of the mutual non-disparagement clause seems excessively broad. Why would a computer security researcher sign away his right to criticize the products, services, vendors and affiliates of the leading anonymous communication tool?