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> estimated $3 billion in lost wages. Before the case went to trial, the companies settled for a total of $435 million So you get busted doing something illega

> estimated $3 billion in lost wages. Before the case went to trial, the companies settled for a total of $435 million So you get busted doing something illegal and walk away with a 2.5Billion in your pocket and 0 jail time. How do you expect execs to not do this all the time?

khalilravanna 7y ago
If the number of 64,000 employees is correct, even that $3B seems like a pittance. One commenter wrote their wage jumped by $100k the year after this settlement. $3B / 64k ~= $50k per person, less than half that number[1]. In the end they only had to pay an amount that was < $7k per person. What a joke. My guess is the executives who orchestrated this got a big bonus as a result. And why wouldn't they? They optimized for the corporation's good. How do we collectively start incentivizing not being evil like this? 1. Sure it's only one data point to extrapolate off of but anecdotally hearing that people were paid $100-150k in SF while this was going on is a substantial amount of wage suppression given that those same people employed now would be making $300-500k at those same companies without blinking an eye.
- hopler 7y ago
  It was orchestrated by CEOs. They get big bonuses regardless. Also you are conflating base salary with total comp in your example.
  - khalilravanna 7y ago
    A fair point about CEOs but the leaders of engineering had to sign off on this all along the way. Of course my math is back of the envelope and nothing to go by but it definitely hints at the massive discrepancy. To your point about salary/comp, Netflix is at least one example of a company that allows (allowed?) comp in the form of 100% salary.
skybrian 7y ago
We are talking about a hypothetical wage calculation with many unknowns versus a cash settlement. In truth, nobody knows what would have happened in the counterfactual case, but settlements require picking a number.
- thatoneuser 7y ago
  The number ought to err too high, not too low. This is supposed to be punishment and deterrent, not a gamble to get ahead illegally.
  - skybrian 7y ago
    Maybe it was already on the high side? How do we know?

khalilravanna 7y ago

If the number of 64,000 employees is correct, even that $3B seems like a pittance. One commenter wrote their wage jumped by $100k the year after this settlement. $3B / 64k ~= $50k per person, less than half that number[1]. In the end they only had to pay an amount that was < $7k per person. What a joke. My guess is the executives who orchestrated this got a big bonus as a result. And why wouldn't they? They optimized for the corporation's good. How do we collectively start incentivizing not being evil like this? 1. Sure it's only one data point to extrapolate off of but anecdotally hearing that people were paid $100-150k in SF while this was going on is a substantial amount of wage suppression given that those same people employed now would be making $300-500k at those same companies without blinking an eye.

hopler 7y ago
It was orchestrated by CEOs. They get big bonuses regardless. Also you are conflating base salary with total comp in your example.
- khalilravanna 7y ago
  A fair point about CEOs but the leaders of engineering had to sign off on this all along the way. Of course my math is back of the envelope and nothing to go by but it definitely hints at the massive discrepancy. To your point about salary/comp, Netflix is at least one example of a company that allows (allowed?) comp in the form of 100% salary.

skybrian 7y ago

We are talking about a hypothetical wage calculation with many unknowns versus a cash settlement. In truth, nobody knows what would have happened in the counterfactual case, but settlements require picking a number.

thatoneuser 7y ago
The number ought to err too high, not too low. This is supposed to be punishment and deterrent, not a gamble to get ahead illegally.
- skybrian 7y ago
  Maybe it was already on the high side? How do we know?