4 ms·

Regardless of whatever happened, the letter comes off like the whining ramblings of a former employee. This all refers back to a 2012 lawsuit: http://www.geekw

Regardless of whatever happened, the letter comes off like the whining ramblings of a former employee. This all refers back to a 2012 lawsuit: http://www.geekwire.com/2012/kindle-ad-team-member-sues-amazon-alleges-internal-retaliation/ http://www.geekwire.com/2012/kindle-ad-team-member-sues-amaz...

duncan_bayne 12y ago
Really? I only wish most documents I read were that clear and well reasoned.
zephod 12y ago
I thought it was well-written, calm and thorough, carefully backing up each point and not descending into hyperbole. It's a difficult line to walk and I think this letter does a professional job.
- colinbartlett 12y ago
  I am sorry for sounding dismissive. I read through 20 pages and all of it looked like someone having email disagreements with their coworkers. I'll read some of the commentary and try to understand the moral issues here better.
donkeyd 12y ago
A dutch whistle-blower commited suicide, because he was slandered while trying to bring out similar problems at his company. Afterwards, his findings were brought to the major public which created a big stir and caused for in-depth investigation. It takes a lot of guts to speak up on a huge company like Amazon, this should be valued. It shouldn't be dismissed with "well, it's a former employee, so of course he's not happy.."
- Macha 12y ago
  > "well, it's a former employee, so of course he's not happy.." Of course, if he was an employee at the time of filing the lawsuit (the act of filing it would presumably get him sacked immediately afterwards), it would be dismissed with "Well he doesn't feel that strongly about it if he kept working there"
mrtree 12y ago
Very classy calling it "whining ramblings". I wish you never have a similar situation in the work environment. Bravo for anyone standing up for ethics in corporations.
- hisabness 12y ago
  what about those practicing utilitarian ethics?
mrsaint 12y ago
I wouldn't call it "whining ramblings". But I find it odd that this letter, dating back one month ago, emerges two years after the news of the lawsuit. What I would like to know: what happened between those two years?
- pistle 12y ago
  It would seem that the outcome doesn't look so peachy for the litigant and they may be interested in the scorched earth path. Going into the holiday spend season, maybe trying to give Munira a bad winter? Oddly, for Amazon, it's easy to restore any ill will in this case. They know how to lever up positive emotional feelings for their consumers. While 10's of MM is money, if Discover is the second largest with <20MM/yr, that's small beans in the revenue stream there. So, if consumers and other revenue streams are vastly more important, I'm not sure that the impact of ad sales due to a bad actor crossing someone who doesn't understand political acumen - come on, a desperate email to your bosses boss?? WE NEED THE MILLISECONDS!!! - is all that important. Easy enough to bump Munira (right thing), give Kivin shut-up money (right thing and expedient), and move forward steamrolling online retailing...

duncan_bayne 12y ago

Really? I only wish most documents I read were that clear and well reasoned.

zephod 12y ago

I thought it was well-written, calm and thorough, carefully backing up each point and not descending into hyperbole. It's a difficult line to walk and I think this letter does a professional job.

colinbartlett 12y ago
I am sorry for sounding dismissive. I read through 20 pages and all of it looked like someone having email disagreements with their coworkers. I'll read some of the commentary and try to understand the moral issues here better.

donkeyd 12y ago

A dutch whistle-blower commited suicide, because he was slandered while trying to bring out similar problems at his company. Afterwards, his findings were brought to the major public which created a big stir and caused for in-depth investigation. It takes a lot of guts to speak up on a huge company like Amazon, this should be valued. It shouldn't be dismissed with "well, it's a former employee, so of course he's not happy.."

Macha 12y ago
> "well, it's a former employee, so of course he's not happy.." Of course, if he was an employee at the time of filing the lawsuit (the act of filing it would presumably get him sacked immediately afterwards), it would be dismissed with "Well he doesn't feel that strongly about it if he kept working there"

mrtree 12y ago

Very classy calling it "whining ramblings". I wish you never have a similar situation in the work environment. Bravo for anyone standing up for ethics in corporations.

hisabness 12y ago
what about those practicing utilitarian ethics?

mrsaint 12y ago

I wouldn't call it "whining ramblings". But I find it odd that this letter, dating back one month ago, emerges two years after the news of the lawsuit. What I would like to know: what happened between those two years?

pistle 12y ago
It would seem that the outcome doesn't look so peachy for the litigant and they may be interested in the scorched earth path. Going into the holiday spend season, maybe trying to give Munira a bad winter? Oddly, for Amazon, it's easy to restore any ill will in this case. They know how to lever up positive emotional feelings for their consumers. While 10's of MM is money, if Discover is the second largest with <20MM/yr, that's small beans in the revenue stream there. So, if consumers and other revenue streams are vastly more important, I'm not sure that the impact of ad sales due to a bad actor crossing someone who doesn't understand political acumen - come on, a desperate email to your bosses boss?? WE NEED THE MILLISECONDS!!! - is all that important. Easy enough to bump Munira (right thing), give Kivin shut-up money (right thing and expedient), and move forward steamrolling online retailing...