That's how we manage things in a civilized society. It's precisely why we have a court system. We want:
1. For Google to follow standards we've agreed upon as a society. There are extremists on both sides for what constitutes harassment. We don't want them duking it out with vigilante violence (whether physical, as 100 years ago, or over Twitter, today).
2. There to be due process before action is taken. It's imperfect, but it's a lot better than going vigilante. For a company like Google, if there is a pattern of sexual harassment, with over 50,000 employees, at least some of them will have an open-and-shut case.
3. In the context of something like sexual harassment, the typical damages are set at a level where only a small minority need to win lawsuits before it is financially painful.
I don't care how bad things are at Google. The way to settle this is within the legal system.
By the way, HR's job is to protect the employer from liability. Going to HR is the last thing you want to do. HR will almost never do anything to help the employee -- that's sometimes seen as tantamount to admitting guilt. Once you go to HR, their primary strategy will be whatever minimizes liability. That's often something not great for the employee. A common strategy is to set you up to fail, destroy your credibility, and work you out of the company. If a lawsuit does come up, they can play the disgruntled worker card.
The way the system is set up, suing your former employer is your civic duty, and does a few things:
1. Applies financial pressure to fix the problem.
2. Is generally confidential, protecting both your reputation and your former employers'.
3. If you have a credible claim, rewards you financially for doing your civic duty.
Until you're ready to file a law suit, you want to act professionally at work, and play the role of a good employee. There is absolutely no upside to doing anything else -- whether to your career, or to your odds of winning a law suit. Think about it. You're on a jury. Case 1: There's a clear rockstar employee, who loves the work, and leaves because of alleged harassment. Case 2: An underperforming employee gets fired after bitching out their employer. They claim harassment. How does that bias you? You're upper management. You get similar claims. How do you behave? You're a future employer, co-worker, etc.
This stuff ain't rocket science. You're not in kindergarden anymore.
Comments
Then:
1. Compile evidence in your existing job.
2. Find a new job
3. File a lawsuit.
That's how we manage things in a civilized society. It's precisely why we have a court system. We want:
1. For Google to follow standards we've agreed upon as a society. There are extremists on both sides for what constitutes harassment. We don't want them duking it out with vigilante violence (whether physical, as 100 years ago, or over Twitter, today).
2. There to be due process before action is taken. It's imperfect, but it's a lot better than going vigilante. For a company like Google, if there is a pattern of sexual harassment, with over 50,000 employees, at least some of them will have an open-and-shut case.
3. In the context of something like sexual harassment, the typical damages are set at a level where only a small minority need to win lawsuits before it is financially painful.
I don't care how bad things are at Google. The way to settle this is within the legal system.
By the way, HR's job is to protect the employer from liability. Going to HR is the last thing you want to do. HR will almost never do anything to help the employee -- that's sometimes seen as tantamount to admitting guilt. Once you go to HR, their primary strategy will be whatever minimizes liability. That's often something not great for the employee. A common strategy is to set you up to fail, destroy your credibility, and work you out of the company. If a lawsuit does come up, they can play the disgruntled worker card.
The way the system is set up, suing your former employer is your civic duty, and does a few things:
1. Applies financial pressure to fix the problem.
2. Is generally confidential, protecting both your reputation and your former employers'.
3. If you have a credible claim, rewards you financially for doing your civic duty.
Until you're ready to file a law suit, you want to act professionally at work, and play the role of a good employee. There is absolutely no upside to doing anything else -- whether to your career, or to your odds of winning a law suit. Think about it. You're on a jury. Case 1: There's a clear rockstar employee, who loves the work, and leaves because of alleged harassment. Case 2: An underperforming employee gets fired after bitching out their employer. They claim harassment. How does that bias you? You're upper management. You get similar claims. How do you behave? You're a future employer, co-worker, etc.
This stuff ain't rocket science. You're not in kindergarden anymore.