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> Uber execs found out about the situation after Recode informed them of the chain of events between Singhal and the search giant this week. > Indeed. Accordin

> Uber execs found out about the situation after Recode informed them of the chain of events between Singhal and the search giant this week. > Indeed. According to multiple sources and internal notes read to me, after discussing the claims of an alleged encounter between Singhal and a female employee first with former Google HR head Laszlo Bock and also Google CEO Sundar Pichai in late 2015, he denied those claims at the time. He also apparently stated a number of times that there were two sides to every story. > To be clear, Singhal’s dispute with Google has nothing to do with that situation or the recent lawsuit that Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has waged against Uber’s Otto division. The part that worries me about "perfect storms" like this when two competitors are in multiple disputes (both legal and in the marketplace) is it is a convenient time to leak information that will remove key players from the other company and it does appear that Recode got the information from someone who likely is currently a Google employee. I'm not saying this time it is false but I have seen that pattern play out before where accusations from a previous employer who is a competitor for the current employer get "released" to ruin someone's reputation at a critical juncture. Although, in that case it wasn't sexual harassment but the same principle applies imo. I'd like to see something more verifiable than a business competitor's employee acted as a source for a news article. It is like trusting someone's enemy to be honest rather than slip the knife into their back. If that is the standard of evidence we are using to destroy people's careers, it is a lower bar than I'd like.

TorKlingberg 10y ago
I seem to me that Recode started investigating Uber, and uncovered this.
- fictioncircle 10y ago
  That might be and it might be my life experience biasing my opinion. I just came away with the impression Recode started to investigate and got spoonfed a line of attack against a commercial competitor. To me, the chain of events seems to be, Recode goes to sources at Google for dirt on ex-Google employees at Uber, gets fed exactly what it would take to get an employee that is valuable to Uber terminated. Often, information that is leaked benefits the leaker in some way from their point of view. Deepthroat leaked as part of a plan to advance his career which is quite similar to Uber's culture of getting other people to fall so you can advance as well. There are just too many odd angles to this that imply it might have been motivated by something other than a genuine commitment to see justice done that I think some greater level of evidence should be expected before you convict someone in the court of public opinion.
zigzigzag 10y ago
Yes. Presumably whoever was reading out those notes is high up in Google HR, as I guess they are not exactly widely distributed internally. Google HR personnel deliberately leaking what appears to be little more than gossip in order to cause problems for a competitor does not really inspire confidence.
- patmcguire 10y ago
  Discussion was in lat 2015 when they both confirmed. I dunno how they kept that under wraps, I guess since she didn't want to go public Recode let it go.
  - patmcguire 10y ago
    NVM, I misread it. Accusation was in 2015, they confirmed it recently.
- x0x0 10y ago
  It could also have been eg the person Amit allegedly harassed, who may not have been entirely stoked about (1) google giving him his grants, (2) letting Amit write a "happy days, I'm retiring" letter, and (3) him going on to a similar job at a new company. This is a lot more than idle gossip. If that's how you view this matter, I hear Uber is hiring!
  - fictioncircle 10y ago
    Just fyi, generally someone who filed a complaint or being investigated by HR doesn't have access to HR's internal notes on the investigation. It very much reads as if a HR employee is the source. HR works for the company and only hands that information out if legally compelled or its to the company's advantage. They don't give internal memos on HR issues to the employees involved because it provides them with no advantages.
    - tekromancr 10y ago
      Or it was an unauthorized leak. Someone in HR, with access to the files, deciding for themselves what the right thing to do was
mahyarm 10y ago
Unfortunately in any war game, you strike when the iron is hot.

TorKlingberg 10y ago

I seem to me that Recode started investigating Uber, and uncovered this.

fictioncircle 10y ago
That might be and it might be my life experience biasing my opinion. I just came away with the impression Recode started to investigate and got spoonfed a line of attack against a commercial competitor. To me, the chain of events seems to be, Recode goes to sources at Google for dirt on ex-Google employees at Uber, gets fed exactly what it would take to get an employee that is valuable to Uber terminated. Often, information that is leaked benefits the leaker in some way from their point of view. Deepthroat leaked as part of a plan to advance his career which is quite similar to Uber's culture of getting other people to fall so you can advance as well. There are just too many odd angles to this that imply it might have been motivated by something other than a genuine commitment to see justice done that I think some greater level of evidence should be expected before you convict someone in the court of public opinion.

zigzigzag 10y ago

Yes. Presumably whoever was reading out those notes is high up in Google HR, as I guess they are not exactly widely distributed internally. Google HR personnel deliberately leaking what appears to be little more than gossip in order to cause problems for a competitor does not really inspire confidence.

patmcguire 10y ago
Discussion was in lat 2015 when they both confirmed. I dunno how they kept that under wraps, I guess since she didn't want to go public Recode let it go.
- patmcguire 10y ago
  NVM, I misread it. Accusation was in 2015, they confirmed it recently.
x0x0 10y ago
It could also have been eg the person Amit allegedly harassed, who may not have been entirely stoked about (1) google giving him his grants, (2) letting Amit write a "happy days, I'm retiring" letter, and (3) him going on to a similar job at a new company. This is a lot more than idle gossip. If that's how you view this matter, I hear Uber is hiring!
- fictioncircle 10y ago
  Just fyi, generally someone who filed a complaint or being investigated by HR doesn't have access to HR's internal notes on the investigation. It very much reads as if a HR employee is the source. HR works for the company and only hands that information out if legally compelled or its to the company's advantage. They don't give internal memos on HR issues to the employees involved because it provides them with no advantages.
  - tekromancr 10y ago
    Or it was an unauthorized leak. Someone in HR, with access to the files, deciding for themselves what the right thing to do was

mahyarm 10y ago

Unfortunately in any war game, you strike when the iron is hot.