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Indian-American engineer fired for speaking Hindi during dying relative's call

constantcrying 3y ago
I am not an american. But how many 78 year olds are working at missile defense companies as engineers?
- atonse 3y ago
  Probably not a lot but given how specialized that work is, and how high the clearance levels probably are, my guess is it’s also a much, much smaller talent pool.
  - asynchronous 3y ago
    Security clearance work in any capacity is already a very small pool
    - MichaelZuo 3y ago
      A very limited pool could imply <100 people total, alive, who are capable of doing the work.
    - atonse 3y ago
      Exactly, they have to pass the clearances even before you consider how good they could be at the job.
- Robotbeat 3y ago
  More than you’d think. The average age of, for instance, NASA Langley civil servants is mid-50s IIRC.
- tivert 3y ago
  > I am not an American. But how many 78 year olds are working at missile defense companies as engineers? It kind of makes sense. A lot of military equipment is old. The front-line US land based nuclear missile entered service in the early 60s. If you got an old guy around from the early days, he might be valuable for filling in gaps in knowledge even if he's doing little else. Though I'd expect that military and defense contractors are a lot better at documenting important decisions and reasoning than the typical half-ass private corporation.
YellOh 3y ago
I know this is written like it's supposed to make us sympathetic, but the engineer seems completely in the wrong here for reasons unrelated to his ethnicity or what language he was speaking. A video call in the same area as classified info, where presumably classified discussions could be happening in the background, seems like such a massive security issue.
- FirmwareBurner 3y ago
  Samee understanding I got. He got laid off for breaking security protocol and then tries to put a racial spin on it to claim wrongful termination and add the dying relative story to gain sympathy. A friend works at Airbus and needs to check his phone into a locker before entering the secure area where most of the work takes place, so if he wants to take a personal call he must do it outside that area and never bring his phone or other personal electronic devices inside. Often you'll have penetration testers try to break in or security auditors who try to convince random employees to break security protocols to test you and it's no joke, if you loose your security certification you automatically loose your customers, as defense contracts depend on having said certifications. Rules are rules over there. The paranoia is high because there are nation states who are well funded and well motivated to get their hands on your defense capabilities, so the tight security protocols must be obeyed by everyone if you choose to work for defense contractors, as consequences are dear, nothing against your ethnicity or language you speak.
  - asynchronous 3y ago
    They’re called Limited Areas and you’re not allowed to bring so much as a smart watch past the very clearly labeled door.
    - HelloNurse 3y ago
      So carrying a device he could use to receive and accept the video call in a restricted office space is probably, by itself, a serious breach of security rules?

I am not an american. But how many 78 year olds are working at missile defense companies as engineers?

atonse 3y ago
Probably not a lot but given how specialized that work is, and how high the clearance levels probably are, my guess is it’s also a much, much smaller talent pool.
- asynchronous 3y ago
  Security clearance work in any capacity is already a very small pool
  - MichaelZuo 3y ago
    A very limited pool could imply <100 people total, alive, who are capable of doing the work.
  - atonse 3y ago
    Exactly, they have to pass the clearances even before you consider how good they could be at the job.
Robotbeat 3y ago
More than you’d think. The average age of, for instance, NASA Langley civil servants is mid-50s IIRC.
tivert 3y ago
> I am not an American. But how many 78 year olds are working at missile defense companies as engineers? It kind of makes sense. A lot of military equipment is old. The front-line US land based nuclear missile entered service in the early 60s. If you got an old guy around from the early days, he might be valuable for filling in gaps in knowledge even if he's doing little else. Though I'd expect that military and defense contractors are a lot better at documenting important decisions and reasoning than the typical half-ass private corporation.

I know this is written like it's supposed to make us sympathetic, but the engineer seems completely in the wrong here for reasons unrelated to his ethnicity or what language he was speaking. A video call in the same area as classified info, where presumably classified discussions could be happening in the background, seems like such a massive security issue.

FirmwareBurner 3y ago
Samee understanding I got. He got laid off for breaking security protocol and then tries to put a racial spin on it to claim wrongful termination and add the dying relative story to gain sympathy. A friend works at Airbus and needs to check his phone into a locker before entering the secure area where most of the work takes place, so if he wants to take a personal call he must do it outside that area and never bring his phone or other personal electronic devices inside. Often you'll have penetration testers try to break in or security auditors who try to convince random employees to break security protocols to test you and it's no joke, if you loose your security certification you automatically loose your customers, as defense contracts depend on having said certifications. Rules are rules over there. The paranoia is high because there are nation states who are well funded and well motivated to get their hands on your defense capabilities, so the tight security protocols must be obeyed by everyone if you choose to work for defense contractors, as consequences are dear, nothing against your ethnicity or language you speak.
- asynchronous 3y ago
  They’re called Limited Areas and you’re not allowed to bring so much as a smart watch past the very clearly labeled door.
  - HelloNurse 3y ago
    So carrying a device he could use to receive and accept the video call in a restricted office space is probably, by itself, a serious breach of security rules?