4 ms·

Slightly off topic, but the biggest eye opener in this article for me was this: > Three-quarters of the $1.02 million award is for Berry’s attorneys’ fees and

Slightly off topic, but the biggest eye opener in this article for me was this: > Three-quarters of the $1.02 million award is for Berry’s attorneys’ fees and legal costs. Rushing also directed Tesla to pay the ex-employee $266,278.50 in damages, including $100,000 to compensate for emotional distress. People here on HN can be very quick to make the claim "it's illegal to do X" as though that solves the problem. This appears to be about as clear cut a case as you could imagine (for it to be granted against Tesla in arbitration). Could you imagine spending 4 years and $750,000 for a _chance_ at being told you were right, and rewarded less than you souos have made if you had just continued working for them over that time. Back on topic, this man was treated horrifyingly, and Tesla's defense of "is absolutely against any form of discrimination, harassment, or unfair treatment of any kind" is laughable, it must be such a slap in the face for Mr. Berry to be told that by an army of lawyers after going through what he did.

aquadrop 5y ago
yeah, the real winners here seems to be lawyers.
thaumasiotes 5y ago
> Could you imagine spending 4 years and $750,000 for a _chance_ at being told you were right Did Berry spend $750,000? A $750,000 attorneys' fees award doesn't imply that he paid them anything, or that he would have had to pay them anything if he'd lost the case.
- maccard 5y ago
  You're right there's some subtlety in the wording, and my simplification of the figures doesn't help. It doesn't change the fact that he didn't get a 1 million dollar award personally, and that legal fees of 750,000 were paid from that award. We don't know what he wouls have had to pay if he lost, but it I was reading this as someone going through an abusive workplace and considerih arbitration, the fear of even being asked for 10% of that 750k legal bill would push me to not do it.
  - thaumasiotes 5y ago
    The payment agreement is made in advance; it doesn't come as a surprise once the judgment is announced.
  - qeternity 5y ago
    > We don't know what he wouls have had to pay if he lost These cases are taken on contingency, so if they lost, the lawyer gets nothing. This is compensated by the large percentage of fees in the case of a win.
    - yunohn 5y ago
      > These cases are taken on contingency Do you have a source for that?
zamalek 5y ago
> is absolutely against any form of discrimination, harassment, or unfair treatment of any kind It's truly bizarre that any company that spews this PR canned response implies that their (likely thousands) supervisors/leaders universally uphold the company values. You can have corporate policies and virtues until you're blue in the face, it doesn't mean shit if those policies aren't aggressively enforced. The truth is that Tesla doesn't stand for a single thing, apart from their bottom line.

aquadrop 5y ago

yeah, the real winners here seems to be lawyers.

thaumasiotes 5y ago

> Could you imagine spending 4 years and $750,000 for a _chance_ at being told you were right Did Berry spend $750,000? A $750,000 attorneys' fees award doesn't imply that he paid them anything, or that he would have had to pay them anything if he'd lost the case.

maccard 5y ago
You're right there's some subtlety in the wording, and my simplification of the figures doesn't help. It doesn't change the fact that he didn't get a 1 million dollar award personally, and that legal fees of 750,000 were paid from that award. We don't know what he wouls have had to pay if he lost, but it I was reading this as someone going through an abusive workplace and considerih arbitration, the fear of even being asked for 10% of that 750k legal bill would push me to not do it.
- thaumasiotes 5y ago
  The payment agreement is made in advance; it doesn't come as a surprise once the judgment is announced.
- qeternity 5y ago
  > We don't know what he wouls have had to pay if he lost These cases are taken on contingency, so if they lost, the lawyer gets nothing. This is compensated by the large percentage of fees in the case of a win.
  - yunohn 5y ago
    > These cases are taken on contingency Do you have a source for that?

zamalek 5y ago

> is absolutely against any form of discrimination, harassment, or unfair treatment of any kind It's truly bizarre that any company that spews this PR canned response implies that their (likely thousands) supervisors/leaders universally uphold the company values. You can have corporate policies and virtues until you're blue in the face, it doesn't mean shit if those policies aren't aggressively enforced. The truth is that Tesla doesn't stand for a single thing, apart from their bottom line.