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They might believe it would act as a visible deterrent to other employees. If employees at Google see activism go un-retaliated-against, then it may become so r
by mlthoughts2018 8y ago
They might believe it would act as a visible deterrent to other employees. If employees at Google see activism go un-retaliated-against, then it may become so rampant that it actually does pose an existential threat to Google.
This way, even if she sues them and wins, it will scare a lot of other employees and make them second guess if they want to be put in a position to have to hire a lawyer, be dragged to court, risk losing, etc.
- mindcrime 8y agoIf employees at Google see activism go un-retaliated-against, then it may become so rampant that it actually does pose an existential threat to Google. That's fair. I guess the question, then, is whether or not this kind of activism can actually represent a real threat to the company. I lean towards "I doubt it", at least in any realistic scenario. But I'd be interested to hear the arguments for that position.
- mlthoughts2018 8y agoYou may be right, but a company the size of Google may view the legal costs + bad press that they have to hire PR people to expunge from the minds of the community as a fairly trivial overall cost relative to sending a damning authoritarian style message that they will hit back hard. With nearly infinite money & power, it is hard to speculate what their ethical calculus is in a situation like this.
- kelnos 8y agoNot sure why you're being downvoted. Contacting a lawyer can be a scary, expensive proposition. Doing so in order to make a case against your employer, which provides your livelihood, sounds even harder. Even if these people prevail, the entire experience can have a chilling effect on other would-be activists.