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Adria Richards fired by SendGrid for outting developers
- amhindle 14y ago!
- nvr219 14y agodirect link: https://www.facebook.com/SendGrid/posts/10151502570463967 https://www.facebook.com/SendGrid/posts/10151502570463967
- neeee 14y agoThis was taken off the front page: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5416021 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5416021 Edit: this thread is also gone
- throwaway125 14y agoguess this thread is also gone from the front page now.
- throwaway125 14y agocomment thread of that link: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5416021 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5416021
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- jiggy2011 14y agoWell.. That escalated quickly...
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- mhurron 14y agoEquality is a good thing.
- arrrg 14y agoThis is not equality, it’s a clusterfuck. Two wrongs don’t make a right. In the end the bullies won.
- warmwaffles 14y agoI don't see it as that. There were better ways to handle the situation. She shouldn't have public shamed them without asking them to stop first.
- arrrg 14y agoProbably. Sadly, humans are not perfect. Making dumb jokes and posting a photo of those who made dumb jokes online? Dumb mistakes. Firing people, DDoS attacks, vile threats: Now that’s a shitty clusterfuck. The bullies have driven the conversation.
- warmwaffles 14y agoI think the firing was purely a business decision for both companies. Harboring stuff like this can go down hill fast. It's easier to just let them go and not have to deal with it.
- arrrg 14y agoAn immoral business decision, yes.
- warmwaffles 14y agoIt can be, but it could also be an excuse to get rid of a problem employee. SendGrid could have been waiting for her to slip to let her go.
- mwetzler 14y agoA terrifying precedent for all women in tech.
- CJefferson 14y agoI disagree, I think too much of this has got wrapped up in male/female terms. People making off-colour jokes at a conference is unacceptable (perhaps not a firing offence). Posting pictures of fellow attendees from a conference, while your work is paying you to be there, with insulting messages about them, is also unacceptable (but perhaps not a firing offence). No-one involved here comes off particularly well, but I truely believe if if Ardia had done any (or all) of: * Talk privately to the people * Talk privately to the organiser of PyCon * Talk publicly about the issue, without giving out pictures or names She would not now be having a problem of anywhere near the same size, or now be fired.
- afandian 14y agoWhat has this got to do with women? Anyone could have found those jokes offensive, whatever their gender. And no-one has the right to protection from being offended, whatever their gender.
- mwetzler 14y agoThanks for asking. The nature of the attacks against Adria are EXTREMELY misogynistic (rape threats, death threats, people calling her a c_nt, b_tch, wh_re, etc) and many people have taken up a "burn her at the stake" mentality. They've also pulled into question her professional credibility and called her an affirmative action hire. They are saying this kind of behavior should be expected from someone with the domain "butyouragirl". Misogyny is kind of like porn: "you know it when you see it". There is a simply an undue level of hatred for Adria which is correlated to her gender, I think in large part because she is an outspoken feminist. A lot of people in this community would very much like outspoken feminists not to exist (check the comments here or on Reddit anytime a post about women in tech goes up). Another way to look at it: I can't imagine this chain of events would have gone down if a man pointed out a lewd joke at a conference. The whole thing really smells like a feminist backlash. I'm trying to be more outspoken about gender bias I encounter in the workplace, but incidents like this are a terrifying reminder of why that can be dangerous. A few months ago I posted about an inappropriate comment someone made to me at a hackathon and got lots of advice (on this forum) to publicly out and shame the person. Seeing that my company could have come under attack for that is a reminder of why it's dangerous for women to speak out.
- sjs382 14y agoNo matter how this all plays out, "accusing" is a more accurate headline than "outting".
- mattermill 14y agoI like the part where she said "SendGrid supports me" - https://twitter.com/adriarichards/status/314452708549603328 https://twitter.com/adriarichards/status/314452708549603328
- jkrems 14y agoWonder if that's part of the reason she was fired. That's where her position becomes company policy and if that was not properly communicated...
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- msoad 14y agoI'm sure there are tons of companies who are willing to hire her now.
- kevingibbon 14y agoI'm not saying I agree with SendGrid's decision but how could Andria effectively do her job as a developer evangelist if the entire developer community hates her?
- hprx 14y agohttp://cmx.io/#5214736 http://cmx.io/#5214736
- dos1 14y agoThis is somewhat meta, sorry. What concerns me is that even in the face blistering internet rage, she dug in her heels and stood by her actions. Just apologize. Why is it so bloody hard for people these days to just admit they made a mistake? Being fired, harassed on twitter, etc etc could not possibly be better than writing "I'm really sorry I publicly outed those guys, I should not have done that, and will refrain from doing that in the future". Here's another thread where I argue that an apology could have fixed things: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5415524 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5415524 Some of the responses were indignant, and people said she shouldn't have to apologize for her actions. I agree, she doesn't need to apologize. But look where it got her! This is indicative of a much broader trend I see. People today would rather lose a finger than say they're sorry. I just cannot understand it.
- jkrems 14y agoIf I recall correctly she at least said she was sorry in that first HN thread where it was mentioned that one of the guys was fired. But she could have written that in an update on her blog post or in a new post.