Google told him to “assume good intent”.<p>This is unironically good advise. On Wikipedia, "assume good faith" is even a rule. This is because many of the talk-page conversations derail due to nothing other than editors assuming bad faith about each others contributions.<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Assume_good_faith" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Assume_good_faith</a>
The opening example this article gives is preposterous. Who would make an HR complaint over one ill-considered remark? Who would want to work with a person who would? I agree with Google here that you should assume good intent coming from other people until they prove that wrong, and I don't think that standard was applied here.
I suppose it's important to know the context that this colleague suggested their skin colour was darker than she expected.<p>"Wow, what a tan"<p>> "Yeah I just came back from 3 months in Egypt"<p>"Yeah! I was a momentarily surprised because your skin colour was darker than I expected since I'd seen your photo on your CV"<p>Maybe I'm giving the colleague too much credit.
This must be satire... someone remarked about the guy being darker than she thought. I am not sure why that's supposed to be a negative remark someone should be offended by?! I had people tell me something like that when I come back from a sunny vacation, and I actually take that as a compliment, bronze skin looks to me healthier than never-seen-sun-in-my-life skin :D (BTW I am darker than the person in question, and I get very dark after being exposed to a lot of sun)... They then make sure you know the guy prefers pronouns they/them, and dutifully follows on with awkward English sentences like "Cruz went on medical leave, and hoped to take the company up on its offer for a new position, they said. But Cruz was turned down from every role they applied for, so they were forced to quit."<p>Wow.
HR is probably not how this is going to actually be resolved. Racism, sexism and other social issues tend to be very thorny problems to solve.<p>You don't broker peace and build bridges and that sort of thing this way. This tends to put out the fire with gasoline and that may be why Google is doing this shitty thing of putting people on leave and saying "We will move you when you come back." Because they may be trying to help the employee start over after burning bridges on their current team.<p>I wish I had something more constructive to say about this. This is my third attempt to say something here and I'm very concerned about coming across as dismissive of very real issues and that's absolutely not my intent.<p>Quite the contrary. I hope to plant the idea that there may be a path forward but this is not it. You will need to look elsewhere for real solutions.<p>I know that a lot of FAANG employees hang here, including people who work at Google. I know that sometimes people here actually respect my opinion on some topics.<p>If you want to make real progress here, you will really need to look at things like the Rooney Rule for inspiration and clues as to how to actually make progress.<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooney_Rule" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooney_Rule</a><p>You will be breaking ground if you find real solutions. Real solutions will most likely not involve things like hiring quotas.
Typical „the messenger is the problem“ response.<p>When did big tech undergo a societal change? I can’t imagine that the D&D nerds I hung out with in school would respond in similarly inhumane and obviously immoral ways. Google is no place for nerds anymore, „preps“ took over?
Related: news from 2018 concerning some top Google brass.<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/25/technology/google-sexual-harassment-andy-rubin.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/25/technology/google-sexual-...</a><p><a href="https://qz.com/work/1326942/sergey-brin-started-google-with-some-strange-ideas-about-his-female-employees-according-to-a-new-book/" rel="nofollow">https://qz.com/work/1326942/sergey-brin-started-google-with-...</a><p>The abusers are treated real cozy.
Relevant HN thread from yesterday that got buried as soon as it came up:<p><a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26374822" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26374822</a><p>Title: 'Google’s approach to Black schools explains why there's few Black engs in Tech'
One can debate the merits of the claims in the article, but “flagging” this article is a bit disturbing. Yes I know it’s HN policy that users can flag any article for any reason, but perhaps this policy should be modified since it stifles nuanced discussion.
Wow, I can’t imagine going to HR to demand an investigation over a comment about my skin color.<p>Central Americans have a wide range of color, from very white to black on account of the European and slavery influence. My own skin is of course influenced by those factors.<p>I’ve been (at work) told I don’t look like I’m from where I say I’m from. To be insulted when there was no obvious intent to insult would show an extreme lack of maturity.<p>This is the equivalent of calling the cops on your neighbor because they don’t act and talk like you.
I want to be open-minded, but it would be really difficult for me to adjust to calling someone they/them. Further, as they/them implies plural, I find it even more confusing. I’m not saying I wouldn’t do it if asked, but it would be difficult.
Can someone from Apple, Microsoft, startups, etc. chime in on how they handle these cases? What's the right way to respond to these complaints and keep the workplace friendly to minorities?
Seems sensible. Given Google's culture and extremely niche employee cross-section (overwhelmingly progressive), I would be surprised if it was filled with Jack the Ripper and Hitler too...I might just suggest the person with the claim first take care of any issues they have.<p>It reeks of this sort of thing...
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/03/kkk-robe-oberlin-was-probably-just-student-wearing-blanket/317746/" rel="nofollow">https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/03/kkk-rob...</a>
> They also contacted human resources to report retaliation after protesting sexual harassment issues and to advocate for raises for Black people to match white employees’ pay.<p>right, Some people are more important than others<p>edit: referring to capitalization, if that is unclear
> a colleague told them their "skin was much darker" than expected<p>They should file a racial discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Then Google would be legally forced to conduct a serious investigation.<p>Also, Google would be unable to retaliate against the employee in any way, such as denying a promotion, etc.<p>> Cruz claims they were subsequently rejected from every role they applied for, and felt forced to quit.<p>If true, that would constitute "constructive dismissal".<p>Unfortunately, companies are protected against a fair amount of legal repercussions due to arbitration agreements (which, in California, you can no longer force people to sign in employment contracts).<p>Arbitration agreements do not protect employers against EEOC complaints. So, EEOC is perhaps the best way for this person to proceed.