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> In the Times story, DeVaul allegedly invited hardware engineer Star Simpson, who was interviewing to work at Google, to the art and culture festival Burning M

> In the Times story, DeVaul allegedly invited hardware engineer Star Simpson, who was interviewing to work at Google, to the art and culture festival Burning Man, telling her he and his wife were polyamorous. Simpson attended the festival in hopes it would improve her chances of getting hired — she brought her mother with her and “professional attire,” according to the Times. Yet DeVaul encouraged her to remove her clothing and asked to give her a massage. > Later on, Simpson learned that she did not get the job, and that DeVaul knew this when she chose to attend Burning Man. > he thought Simpson had been aware that she did not get the job when she attended the festival. This is all kinds of weird, and I am not sure how I feel about any of it. It seems like a failure to communicate all around, with some information asymmetry muddying the waters. On one hand, what the hell are you discussing your sexual relationship with your wife to an interviewee for? How does that come up in an interview process? On the other hand, Burning Man is not a place one goes to for professional reasons. Unless you've been under a rock, you know what Burning Man is, and what goes on there.

HiroshiSan 8y ago
Thanks for expressing this, this is a long the same vein as what I was thinking with my comment below. There is just so much missing information in this one paragraph that it just becomes absurd.
- sp332 8y ago
  It's missing information because the readers don't need to make a decision, and no one involved wants their private lives pried in to any further. It's fine.
packetslave 8y ago
I don't recall the source, but I believe Star Simpson had attended Burning Man multiple times prior to the incident. Whatever the reasoning behind this situation, it wasn't because she didn't know what the festival was all about.
- empath75 8y ago
  It’s not about sexual assault anyway.
sp332 8y ago
If the interviewer invites you to Burning Man, it could definitely have professional consequences.
moate 8y ago
I know exactly how I feel about this: Gross! Telling someone that's interviewing "you should come to burning man because my wife and I are swingers" is gross and inappropriate (borderline illegal?). If you're inclined to ask someone who you were interviewing for a job to come do sex to you and your wife, I think it's a very reasonable expectation that you confirm this person is aware they have not gotten the job. Doubly so when you're an executive of one of the largest companies in the world. Seems like this is extremely poor judgement at best, and abuse of his position/the implication of a job at worst.
- sverige 8y ago
  > If you're inclined to ask someone who you were interviewing for a job to come do sex to you and your wife,... Exactly right. Stop right there. You've gone over the line of professional behavior into something far below that standard. This is always unacceptable. Sorry if that cramps someone's social life, but there are other places to look for sex partners.
- jtr_47 8y ago
  What kind of person would consider going or being interviewed after they heard that statement? Regardless if they wore a suit and brought their mother to the event. It shows that you may be interested but are testing the waters? If this person really wanted the job, it looks like she would have done almost anything to get it. I do not condone the behavior of either party involved. But at least one person should be strong enough to say no thanks, I don't believe in compromising my integrity for an interview with those requirements attached. I'd report this to HR ASAP too. peace.
  - moate 8y ago
    Spoken like someone who's never been jobless long enough to wonder when, not if, the electricity is going to be turned off... Great that you have such high moral standards. Here's the thing: You're victim blaming. This is a bad look. This sort of "there are bad people on both sides" choice is ignoring that you're only condemning her behavior because she responded to his horrible behavior. She did report this behavior to google. She also said she didn't have sex with the guy, and only gave him a neck massage after constant badgering. TL;dr- You're being part of the problem here bro, and you need to knock that off if you want to maintain this air of moral superiority.
rayiner 8y ago
> On the other hand, Burning Man is not a place one goes to for professional reasons. Unless you've been under a rock, you know what Burning Man is, and what goes on there. Do men not ever talk shop at Burning Man? This isn’t muddy at all. If someone invites me somewhere after an interview, I assume (as a man) it’s work related. Women should be able to make the same assumption. And interviewers should never be sexually propositioning candidates. (The excuse that she hadn’t gotten the job is worthless, because if that’s an out it creates a huge conflict of interest and incentive to torpedo candidates because of the interviewer’s attraction.)
quadcore 8y ago
This is all kinds of weird This isnt weird at all. It's exactly how harassment works. One individual is in a weak position and someone exploit that weakness. The person in the weak position will do: false confessions, unwanted sexual activities, unwanted financial transactions (for lack of better term), etc, in order to survive. Was she interviewed for a job in relation with DeVaul? Anything he does that's sex or finance related toward Simpson is therefore harassment. At least, by my book.
- rayiner 8y ago
  > Was she interviewed for a job in relation with DeVaul? Anything he does that's sex or finance related toward Simpson is therefore harassment. At least, by my book. Thank you! It’s not complicated. Be a g-ddamn grownup, treat your professional position with respect, and don’t make sexual passes at people you meet because they came in for an interview.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
tschwimmer 8y ago
> On the other hand, Burning Man is not a place one goes to for professional reasons. Unless you've been under a rock, you know what Burning Man is, and what goes on there. This is not strictly true. I know someone that went to Burning Man to find investors for his company and was successful in doing so.
- electrichead 8y ago
  That's not quite the same thing. He went there to find people who would be the type that go to events like this. If you want to compare apples-to-apples, your friend would have been invited to Burning Man as part of the process of investing in his company (with it being implied that it is in their best interest to attend).
rdtsc 8y ago
> Unless you've been under a rock, you know what Burning Man is, and what goes on there. Or unless you are smart and know exactly what you're doing. She brought her mom and conservative clothes. Now there is both a witness if he decides to do anything more and him having to explain the background of his new employee getting there ... along with her mom. It was a pretty good tactical move. Granted he ended staying as a director for all those years. And I think that tells us quite a bit about Google's values and culture. I remember really wanting to work at Google. I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole these days.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

HiroshiSan 8y ago

Thanks for expressing this, this is a long the same vein as what I was thinking with my comment below. There is just so much missing information in this one paragraph that it just becomes absurd.

sp332 8y ago
It's missing information because the readers don't need to make a decision, and no one involved wants their private lives pried in to any further. It's fine.

packetslave 8y ago

I don't recall the source, but I believe Star Simpson had attended Burning Man multiple times prior to the incident. Whatever the reasoning behind this situation, it wasn't because she didn't know what the festival was all about.

empath75 8y ago
It’s not about sexual assault anyway.

sp332 8y ago

If the interviewer invites you to Burning Man, it could definitely have professional consequences.

moate 8y ago

I know exactly how I feel about this: Gross! Telling someone that's interviewing "you should come to burning man because my wife and I are swingers" is gross and inappropriate (borderline illegal?). If you're inclined to ask someone who you were interviewing for a job to come do sex to you and your wife, I think it's a very reasonable expectation that you confirm this person is aware they have not gotten the job. Doubly so when you're an executive of one of the largest companies in the world. Seems like this is extremely poor judgement at best, and abuse of his position/the implication of a job at worst.

sverige 8y ago
> If you're inclined to ask someone who you were interviewing for a job to come do sex to you and your wife,... Exactly right. Stop right there. You've gone over the line of professional behavior into something far below that standard. This is always unacceptable. Sorry if that cramps someone's social life, but there are other places to look for sex partners.
jtr_47 8y ago
What kind of person would consider going or being interviewed after they heard that statement? Regardless if they wore a suit and brought their mother to the event. It shows that you may be interested but are testing the waters? If this person really wanted the job, it looks like she would have done almost anything to get it. I do not condone the behavior of either party involved. But at least one person should be strong enough to say no thanks, I don't believe in compromising my integrity for an interview with those requirements attached. I'd report this to HR ASAP too. peace.
- moate 8y ago
  Spoken like someone who's never been jobless long enough to wonder when, not if, the electricity is going to be turned off... Great that you have such high moral standards. Here's the thing: You're victim blaming. This is a bad look. This sort of "there are bad people on both sides" choice is ignoring that you're only condemning her behavior because she responded to his horrible behavior. She did report this behavior to google. She also said she didn't have sex with the guy, and only gave him a neck massage after constant badgering. TL;dr- You're being part of the problem here bro, and you need to knock that off if you want to maintain this air of moral superiority.

rayiner 8y ago

> On the other hand, Burning Man is not a place one goes to for professional reasons. Unless you've been under a rock, you know what Burning Man is, and what goes on there. Do men not ever talk shop at Burning Man? This isn’t muddy at all. If someone invites me somewhere after an interview, I assume (as a man) it’s work related. Women should be able to make the same assumption. And interviewers should never be sexually propositioning candidates. (The excuse that she hadn’t gotten the job is worthless, because if that’s an out it creates a huge conflict of interest and incentive to torpedo candidates because of the interviewer’s attraction.)

quadcore 8y ago

This is all kinds of weird This isnt weird at all. It's exactly how harassment works. One individual is in a weak position and someone exploit that weakness. The person in the weak position will do: false confessions, unwanted sexual activities, unwanted financial transactions (for lack of better term), etc, in order to survive. Was she interviewed for a job in relation with DeVaul? Anything he does that's sex or finance related toward Simpson is therefore harassment. At least, by my book.

rayiner 8y ago
> Was she interviewed for a job in relation with DeVaul? Anything he does that's sex or finance related toward Simpson is therefore harassment. At least, by my book. Thank you! It’s not complicated. Be a g-ddamn grownup, treat your professional position with respect, and don’t make sexual passes at people you meet because they came in for an interview.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]

tschwimmer 8y ago

> On the other hand, Burning Man is not a place one goes to for professional reasons. Unless you've been under a rock, you know what Burning Man is, and what goes on there. This is not strictly true. I know someone that went to Burning Man to find investors for his company and was successful in doing so.

electrichead 8y ago
That's not quite the same thing. He went there to find people who would be the type that go to events like this. If you want to compare apples-to-apples, your friend would have been invited to Burning Man as part of the process of investing in his company (with it being implied that it is in their best interest to attend).

rdtsc 8y ago

> Unless you've been under a rock, you know what Burning Man is, and what goes on there. Or unless you are smart and know exactly what you're doing. She brought her mom and conservative clothes. Now there is both a witness if he decides to do anything more and him having to explain the background of his new employee getting there ... along with her mom. It was a pretty good tactical move. Granted he ended staying as a director for all those years. And I think that tells us quite a bit about Google's values and culture. I remember really wanting to work at Google. I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole these days.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]