4 ms·

This is what lawsuits are for. A few good lawsuit victories would put an end to this.

by giardini 6y ago

freeone3000 6y ago
On what grounds?
- tomnipotent 6y ago
  There are legal expectations for how companies can terminate employees, I think it's only fair that professional organizations organizing professional events also be held legally accountable for the impacts they have on individuals. More often than not, these responsibilities emerge after onerous legal discourse, legal judgement, and promise of punishment.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - garmaine 6y ago
    You think it's only fair. That's not exactly an argument about legal grounds.
  - op00to 6y ago
    You may think it’s fair, but you don’t have a (in the US at least) constitutional right to be protected from inexperienced application of a code of conduct.
    - tomnipotent 6y ago
      > constitutional right to be protected from inexperienced application of a code of conduct. I'm not sure what the constitution have to do with it? Inevitably, all it takes is a few court rulings in favor of defendants claiming that CoC enforcements have caused harm.
- NullPrefix 6y ago
  Harassment
  - freeone3000 6y ago
    From the article, the alleged harassment was two phone calls and a zoom call, all of which the recipient answered and participated in. That's not harassment.
- Cthulhu_ 6y ago
  Libel maybe; people can and have gotten fired over CoC violation allegations (warranted or not) and the consequent internet witch hunt; a famous case is "Donglegate". There's a dangerous trend where an accusation alone is enough to have people lose their jobs.
  - ghaff 6y ago
    That's was really nothing to do with a CoC violation directly though. It had to do with a social media blowup that embarrassed and inconvenienced companies in a way that made it easier for both companies to just fire the individuals involved. (As will tend to happen unless an individual has a lot of power.)
    - pseudalopex 6y ago
      And PyCon quickly added a policy telling attendees not to publicize incidents until staff can investigate.
  - freeone3000 6y ago
    Libel would require the allegations be, at the very least, false, and not an opinion. It appears all factual allegations here are true (he presented the talk, he used bits from another talk, he called a speaker wrong), and everything else is an opinion based on those facts. So it's not libel. And any improper employment termination suit would be against the employer, not a conference organizer, because in a very direct sense, it's your employer that chooses whether to fire you or not.
- ballenf 6y ago
  Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/intentional_infliction_of_emotional_distress https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/intentional_infliction_of_em... Might be a stretch, but would likely survive summary judgment.
- giardini 6y ago
  Anything! That's what's great about lawsuits! Defamation of character, violation of contract, overreach, etc. Ask a lawyer for a legal answer.

This is what lawsuits are for. A few good lawsuit victories would put an end to this.

freeone3000 6y ago

On what grounds?

tomnipotent 6y ago
There are legal expectations for how companies can terminate employees, I think it's only fair that professional organizations organizing professional events also be held legally accountable for the impacts they have on individuals. More often than not, these responsibilities emerge after onerous legal discourse, legal judgement, and promise of punishment.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- garmaine 6y ago
  You think it's only fair. That's not exactly an argument about legal grounds.
- op00to 6y ago
  You may think it’s fair, but you don’t have a (in the US at least) constitutional right to be protected from inexperienced application of a code of conduct.
  - tomnipotent 6y ago
    > constitutional right to be protected from inexperienced application of a code of conduct. I'm not sure what the constitution have to do with it? Inevitably, all it takes is a few court rulings in favor of defendants claiming that CoC enforcements have caused harm.
NullPrefix 6y ago
Harassment
- freeone3000 6y ago
  From the article, the alleged harassment was two phone calls and a zoom call, all of which the recipient answered and participated in. That's not harassment.
Cthulhu_ 6y ago
Libel maybe; people can and have gotten fired over CoC violation allegations (warranted or not) and the consequent internet witch hunt; a famous case is "Donglegate". There's a dangerous trend where an accusation alone is enough to have people lose their jobs.
- ghaff 6y ago
  That's was really nothing to do with a CoC violation directly though. It had to do with a social media blowup that embarrassed and inconvenienced companies in a way that made it easier for both companies to just fire the individuals involved. (As will tend to happen unless an individual has a lot of power.)
  - pseudalopex 6y ago
    And PyCon quickly added a policy telling attendees not to publicize incidents until staff can investigate.
- freeone3000 6y ago
  Libel would require the allegations be, at the very least, false, and not an opinion. It appears all factual allegations here are true (he presented the talk, he used bits from another talk, he called a speaker wrong), and everything else is an opinion based on those facts. So it's not libel. And any improper employment termination suit would be against the employer, not a conference organizer, because in a very direct sense, it's your employer that chooses whether to fire you or not.
ballenf 6y ago
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/intentional_infliction_of_emotional_distress https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/intentional_infliction_of_em... Might be a stretch, but would likely survive summary judgment.
giardini 6y ago
Anything! That's what's great about lawsuits! Defamation of character, violation of contract, overreach, etc. Ask a lawyer for a legal answer.