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Judge Clears the Way for Google's Microsoft Hire

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the hr-managers-wildest-dreams dept.

MarkEst1973 was one of the first to write to tell us MSNBC is reporting that a Judge has cleared the way for Google to hire former Microsoft employee Kai-Fu Lee. The hire does come with several limitations and Lee was also found to have 'misled his former employer and taken advantage of confidential Microsoft information'. This comes as a follow up to the original story in which Microsoft sued Google in order to prevent the hire. Tom Burt was quoted as saying that "Dr. Lee is going to be the highest-paid HR manager ever."

3 of 152 comments (clear)

  1. Google Blog Link by Seoulstriker · · Score: 4, Informative

    Google Blog link.

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  2. Re:HR Manager by shark72 · · Score: 5, Informative

    "What is the strategic importance of an HR manager to a company like Google? I'm not dissing HR managers, I just don't really understand how they fit into the picture, and what one can do for a company."

    Two mistakes here:

    1. Not RTFA (I know, that's a given)
    2. The quote was out of context.

    Here's the entire quote from Tom Burt:

    "Dr. Lee is going to be the highest-paid HR manager ever. He can't tell them what to do, he can't direct them, he can't manage them."

    In other words, Dr. Lee isn't really being hired as an HR manager. Tom Burt was being ironic. He was making a funny. His was a wry comment on the ruling that Dr. Lee can't use his expertise when working at Google -- in other words, all he can do is hire them, but not talk to them. Tom Burt was using humor and analogies to point out that if Dr. Lee were to comply with the ruling (which, as somebody pointed out, is unenforcable) then he'd effectively be working as a mere HR manager. Amazingly, even Microsoft employees can sometimes engage in wit and humor.

    Again, Dr. Lee's title isn't HR Manager. It was a joke.

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  3. Re:Noncompete by Keeper · · Score: 4, Informative

    This case isn't under California's jurisdiction. California law is irrelevent.

    The contract was entered in the state of Washington. The contract stipulates legal action be brought in the state of Washington. Lee was employed in Washington. Microsoft is based in Washington.

    Jurisdiction and venue for the case is Washington.