6 ms·

It’s abundantly clear that Google was itching to get rid of her. They probably couldn’t believe her luck when she (stupidly) tried to bully them with not just a

It’s abundantly clear that Google was itching to get rid of her. They probably couldn’t believe her luck when she (stupidly) tried to bully them with not just a threat of resignation, but an actual statement of “I will resign on date XXX”. I also don’t believe that Google would have done this for no reason (given her behaviour during the LeCunn incident) so I’m sympathetic towards Google’s conduct. If Gebru had simply come out and said “Google tried to censor my paper and so I was forced to resign”, I would be thinking very differently.

jasonv 6y ago
She also claimed she was previously going to sue Google. She claimed it loudly and publicly. As long as we’re accounting...
6gvONxR4sf7o 6y ago
I don’t believe anyone has claimed she said “I will resign on date XXX.” The wording I think she and Dean have said she used was “or I will work on a last date” or something. As in “or I’ll work on figuring out what my last date at google will be.”
- busterarm 6y ago
  That's a commitment to resign. Many large companies have a policy of walking out a resigned employee immediately.
  - 6gvONxR4sf7o 6y ago
    I’m not arguing that she did or didn’t resign, just that she didn’t say “or my last date is the 10th” or anything else that clear.
    - busterarm 6y ago
      My point is that that's not necessary. It's a clear commitment to having an end date.
  - dekhn 6y ago
    That's not SOP at Google except in very limited circumstances. When I resigned, I told my manager and we negotiated an exit date 2 weeks after. I volunteered to give up my laptop early etc and not come into the office, but they really wanted me to finish up. People who steal or leak, however, could be terminated immediately and walked out by security. I guess also if you worked on a competitive product and changed to a competitor, they'd walk you out, too.
    - busterarm 6y ago
      And that just tells you how Google felt about this particular relationship. It still doesn't translate to a firing.
      - dekhn 6y ago
        I use the term "terminated". her employment was terminated immediately on the spot for cause.
        busterarm 6y ago
        Except these terms have meaning. If you're "terminated", you can usually get unemployment. In some cases even if it was for cause. If you resigned, generally you can't, barring some specific circumstances.
        dekhn 6y ago
        getting unemployment is the least interesting or relevant part of this entire debacle.
        busterarm 6y ago
        It was just an example. We use these terms because they have specific meanings and terminated does not fit.
- ergocoder 6y ago
  It's incredibly entitled to think she would be the only person who gets to decide what the last day would be. Either side can terminate the employment earlier. I'd assume best intent that she would not go with something like "my last day is a year from now". Why would if she leave immediately or 14 days later? If she didn't get to wrap up her work, then that's Google's loss. To be honest, trying to spin this as Google firing her is very very strange. It's a non-issue, and she did throw an ultimatum.

jasonv 6y ago

She also claimed she was previously going to sue Google. She claimed it loudly and publicly. As long as we’re accounting...

6gvONxR4sf7o 6y ago

I don’t believe anyone has claimed she said “I will resign on date XXX.” The wording I think she and Dean have said she used was “or I will work on a last date” or something. As in “or I’ll work on figuring out what my last date at google will be.”

busterarm 6y ago
That's a commitment to resign. Many large companies have a policy of walking out a resigned employee immediately.
- 6gvONxR4sf7o 6y ago
  I’m not arguing that she did or didn’t resign, just that she didn’t say “or my last date is the 10th” or anything else that clear.
  - busterarm 6y ago
    My point is that that's not necessary. It's a clear commitment to having an end date.
- dekhn 6y ago
  That's not SOP at Google except in very limited circumstances. When I resigned, I told my manager and we negotiated an exit date 2 weeks after. I volunteered to give up my laptop early etc and not come into the office, but they really wanted me to finish up. People who steal or leak, however, could be terminated immediately and walked out by security. I guess also if you worked on a competitive product and changed to a competitor, they'd walk you out, too.
  - busterarm 6y ago
    And that just tells you how Google felt about this particular relationship. It still doesn't translate to a firing.
    - dekhn 6y ago
      I use the term "terminated". her employment was terminated immediately on the spot for cause.
      - busterarm 6y ago
        Except these terms have meaning. If you're "terminated", you can usually get unemployment. In some cases even if it was for cause. If you resigned, generally you can't, barring some specific circumstances.
        dekhn 6y ago
        getting unemployment is the least interesting or relevant part of this entire debacle.
        busterarm 6y ago
        It was just an example. We use these terms because they have specific meanings and terminated does not fit.
ergocoder 6y ago
It's incredibly entitled to think she would be the only person who gets to decide what the last day would be. Either side can terminate the employment earlier. I'd assume best intent that she would not go with something like "my last day is a year from now". Why would if she leave immediately or 14 days later? If she didn't get to wrap up her work, then that's Google's loss. To be honest, trying to spin this as Google firing her is very very strange. It's a non-issue, and she did throw an ultimatum.