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Seems like Google needs an executive leadership team where these types of questions are addressed and decisions are made. A human rights board sounds like a go
by sjg007 7y ago
Seems like Google needs an executive leadership team where these types of questions are addressed and decisions are made. A human rights board sounds like a good idea to me but I can see why a company would not pursue one. We largely expect the US government to take the lead with respect to human rights. Not saying that I agree or disagree with that but it is how many businesses operate.
Googlers who disagree could voice to the ELT and then make decisions on their own if the ELT disagrees if they want to stay, leave or what not. They could unionize too and use the power of collective bargaining. It seems like the cafeteria workers figured out how to do it.
- shadowgovt 7y agoI'm openly curious if even the creation of some kind of leadership team for human rights questions opens the company up to more liability by creating a paper trail that a prosecutor could point to. What happens when the documented human rights decisions differ from US law (which has its own places where it's fallen on its face in the human rights department)? Or from the law of any country in which Google operates, for that matter? (I agree this is a good idea in principle, but it's possible for good ideas to be bad to implement for liability reasons).
- sjg007 7y agoWhat would the crime be?
- shadowgovt 7y agoIt isn't that the creation of such a group is itself a crime. It's that such a group creates a formal paper trail that (whatever crime Google could be accused of) could come under discovery. And "We thought about this and came to the 'wrong' conclusions" is no defense, and the penalties for such a paper trail can be higher than the penalties for "we didn't think of this."
- sjg007 7y agoUS companies are already required to follow laws that uphold human rights. https://photos.state.gov/libraries/korea/49271/july_2013/dwoa_USG-Approach-on-Business-and-Human-Rights-updatedJune2013.pdf https://photos.state.gov/libraries/korea/49271/july_2013/dwo...
- shadowgovt 7y agoSpecifically, US companies are required to follow laws that uphold (The US government's interpretation of) human rights.
- sjg007 7y agoSo there’s no additional legal worry here..
- shadowgovt 7y agoIndications that a company considered alternatives and chose the "wrong" one can indicate intent, which can aggravate damages depending on the law in question.