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Two Google employees say management is punishing them for organizing walkout
- ColinWright 8y agoDiscussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19720753 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19720753 Alternate source: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19725623 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19725623
- amyjess 8y agoThanks. I didn't see the other thread. Hey mods, please go ahead and kill mine. Turns out it wasn't needed.
- computerhouse12 8y agoI can't take ANYONE seriously who mixes all caps words into their sentences.
- duxup 8y agoThe ethics council was ended so ... it would seem to follow that there would be less work on AI ethics in some way wouldn't it? It's hard to know what is going on in detail.
- xvector 8y agoI can't say I'm surprised. People tend to forget that corporations are run by humans and give them free reign to act like monsters. Hopefully these two can push through and create the change they want.
- eclipseo76 8y agoSadly they weren't fired.
- gizmo385 8y agoThe employees? Why do you think they should be fired?
- malvosenior 8y agoFor creating an unprofessional working environment. Here once again they are complaining to the press about their personal issues and causing strife for employees that would like to focus on the work and not on politics or media drama.
- 0815test 8y agoLet's not blame these employees for Google's internal problems. AI-related ethics is a serious concern and Google choosing unqualified people to sit on their AI ethics board was a problem that they were correctly raising attention to. It's quite disappointing that the firm chose to do away with the ethics board altogether.
- malvosenior 8y agoThat's definitely your opinion. I see trouble making employees who are causing a lot of issues for their coworkers. I'm with the parent post and would fire them.
- klipklop 8y agoIs Kay Cole James unqualified because she is a conservative?
- vkou 8y agoDrawing attention to verified instances of sexual harassment, and systemic failures by management to deal with it (90 million dollars paid to a departing sexual harasser) is not creating an unprofessional working environment. Harassment, and management's systemic failures to deal with it, however, does create an unprofessional working environment.
- atsjie 8y agoAs a manager, would you want an activist person that rails against bad company practices/policy, or a more docile person who only focusses on day-to-day work?
- RickJWagner 8y ago"The decision to abandon the council was made as employees criticized the inclusion of the president of the conservative Heritage Foundation. " Note that TheVerge does not name Kay Cole James. Ms. James served as Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources under then-Governor George Allen and was the dean of Regent University's government school. She is currently a member of the NASA Advisory Council. She is the president and founder of the Gloucester Institute, a leadership training center for young African Americans. In other words, she is eminently qualified. Yet Meredith Whittaker organized people against her because she disagrees with her politics. Ms. James has not one incident on record where she caused harm to anyone. She is merely the head of a conservative think-tank. Diversity of thought is very important. I feel little sympathy for the trouble-causers.