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Judge Clears the Way for Google's Microsoft Hire
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."
Google Blog link.
I am defenseless. Use your button. Mod me down with all of your hatred.
would you want to be this chair?
This is good news all around (all right, maybe not for Mr. Ballmer) as it underscores faith in the rights of employees to work for whom they want when they want assuming they act in reasonably good faith (NOTE: this is a standard hardly applied equitably to corporations.
If you read the transcripts it seems clear (to me at least) Microsoft kind of blew it with this guy. They hired him for important work expanding their market into China and hamstrung him in his ideas and proposals.
Also, as an aside, I got criticized for my post and my views about this issue. Most notable I feel vindicated in this portion of the exchange:
My response (emphasis mine):Also, for the record, in contrast to Tom Burt's crowing ""Dr. Lee is going to be the highest-paid HR manager ever.", Google's main goal was to have Lee to establish recruiting and expansion in China... And I doubt for a moment Lee won't be contributing to discussions about products and company directions. That part of the "contract" is just plain unenforcable.
The judge enjoined Lee and his new employer from working on any product or service that relies on confidential information tied to search, natural language processing and speech recognition he obtained while working for Microsoft.
Wasn't the noncompetive clause only good for a year?
I, for one, welcome our new Google HR Manager overlord.
Maybe you didn't RTFA:
At the same time, King County Superior Court Judge Steven Gonzalez found that former Microsoft (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) vice president Kai-Fu Lee had misled his former employer and taken advantage of confidential Microsoft information when first working at Google.
All's not good for Mr. Lee.
-everphilski-
Implement stack ranking for Google.
Microsoft, your kung-fu no good!
am I the first to type to tell Slashdot this article is reporting that someone has eaten all the puncutation marks and hence we were runing out and didnt know how to form a second sentence and so this marathon keeps going with great editorial skills which brings me to the point that please help this sentence keep going for the benefit of mankind....
Here is the part I don't understand. How can the judge actually prevent him from actually working on search, natural language processing and speech recognition many years from now. Who's going to actually keep track of all the compete/noncompete activities?
If they're well-connected, HR managers can bring in an extreme amount of talent. It really comes down to who you know and how they think of you.
If they know you and trust/like you, chances are you might be able to bring them aboard. Let's face it, it doesn't matter what company we're talking about - getting the right employees can make or break you.
Everything I need to know I learned by killing smart people and eating their brains.
Some companies will use devious tactics like "bait-and-switch" or "switch-and-wait" to recruit staff. And some companies just have bad managers who will "turn-and-burn" new recruits to the extent that the HR managers will bail out.
If the company has a good HR manager, then any prospective employees will know that the company is on the level, and will be more willing to accept a job offer.
Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
For the next year he will be the best compensated HR man around. After all MS, that is what the non-competion agreement you made him sign was for....After that, he can freely work to put MS into the ground. Which he will more than likely be very notivated to do after this debacle.
Requiem
"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:
Here's the entire quote from Tom Burt:
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.
Sitting in my day care, the art is decopainted.
Balmer: I know kai fu.
Schmidt: [eyeing him, hand on chin] Show me
NJ Local Music Scene
Dr. Lee is going to be the highest-paid HR manager ever
Most expensive, is more accurate. MS's counsel's point (which previous posters seem to have missed) is that the guy is going to be next to worthless to Google by the time Microsoft is done. Still paid his salary, but unable to do anything he was hired to do (or is able to do.)
Please help metamoderate.
Thought the name sounded familiar - here's my copy of Innovation-Cubed, Silicon Graphics magazine, from 1997 presenting "Dr. Kai-Fu Lee and the future of the 3D Web". The mag also had some neat 3D glasses and photos from the mars sojourner rover.
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
It should be found unconstitutional to deny someone to accept employment at any company because they worked for a competitor at one time, no matter how recent. This is called the FREE MARKET! You have to pay to play.
Of course if someone is privy to confidential information at a job and then woks for a competitor they should not be allowed to discuss trade secrets etc, but the benefit of the doubt has to be given to them until it can be proved they spilled the beans! You have to prove people guilty in my country I thought.
No company owns their employees. Make them an offer they can't refuse or eat it. These are the values we go to war and die for, after all.
"If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar, A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer
That's really not the issue here. As much as Microsoft is "evil", it's a perfectly legitimate concern to not want your competitor to hire away your employees for the purpose of learning your secrets. I'm sure I could think up many scenarios that would apply to you and your life, but you're too young to understand. Of course, the irony here is that Microsoft did this very thing to Borland (which resulted in VisualBasic), but than we know that they think the rules don't apply to them. This business with Kai-Fu Lee is not Google's finest hour.
"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
I worked for an advertising company for several months, to qualify my statements. The exact job of marketing firms and advertising companies is to make you care about whatever the company has to say. This is best done if you don't realize it's happening. Failing all that, cram it down your throat anyway (this is what the advertising people call "brand recognition"; it's a polite way of saying "every time you need soap, you've seen so many of our commercials, you pick up our bar.")
They are obviously just a release of information intended as a starting point for the press
These days, it's the point for the press.
I stand by my original statement- the "google blog" looks exactly like a press release page on a website. It's a listing of stuff about the company, all of it PR. "Our baby was saved by google!" "Here are some features we're excited about!"
Spend a few months working for an advertising firm. See every day emails floating into your inbox from executives bragging about successful "placement" campaigns with the press. See your company hawk the most incredible crap like it was the best thing since sliced bread. Feel your skin crawl- and realize that PR and marketing people are in the business of LYING . We'll see how skeptical you are of anything a corporation publishes...
Please help metamoderate.
Maybe the 'confidential Microsoft information' he took advantage of was how to steal employees from competitors!
Liberals call everyone Nazis yet they are the closest thing to it.
I guess Google's motto doesn't apply to all. Don't be evil... except its OK to be evil to Microsoft (who are of course VERY evil) apparently.
Actually, if you think about it. That's when its the truest test of how evil or not you are. And I'd say they failed.
What if, oh say, Jesus was only nice to people who where nice to him? He wouldn't be very admire in that case.
A judge on Tuesday cleared the way for Google Inc. to hire a former Microsoft executive to head its Chinese research and development center so long as the employee does not recruit from Microsoft. [...] Lee can begin working for Google (Research) by setting up a research office in China and recruiting software engineers if he does not use confidential information gleaned while he worked at Microsoft, the judge found.
I have worked at two places that got raided by Microsoft for employees. Just about every month, some other important employee disappeared to Microsoft, sometimes in groups of two or three, and then those people would call their buddies and the next month even more would disappear. It was horrible for morale and it was horrible for projects. And of course these people were working on the same things at Microsoft that they had been working on before.
And historically, many of Microsoft's major products were created by hiring away key employees from competitors and then having them build exactly the same product for Microsoft that they had been building before.
This lawsuit is a complete joke, coming from Microsoft. The judge should have told Microsoft to stuff it.
I know everyone isn't fond of the Evil Empire (myself included), but this guy did essentially "screw over" MS. Top it off with violating a no-compete and sharing confidential MS info with Google.
If I was going to jump ship with my present company, I'd at least see if they could work something out with me.
Ballmer will be killing Google just about .... now.
insecurity asks the wrong question irritation gives the wrong answer
people should able to work when and where they want, attempting to prevent us doing so, is slavery essentially
Sure, you can work at anything you want (provided you're qualified, and someone wants you at a price you're willing to accept). But if you want a nice six-figure paycheck from Microsoft, and all of the usual benefits, then you'll have to consider agreeing to some specific terms of that employment. They are hardly making a slave out of you for holding you to what you agreed to do in exchange for that fat paycheck.
but a blanket ban on being able to work for anyone else
Well, since that wasn't even an issue, it's not clear why you're bringing it up.
corperations don't own us, they OWE us
Well sure - right up until payday. And then, with that cash in your bank account, they don't owe you until you do more work for them. On the other hand, if you're a customer of that corporation... they only owe you if you pay in advance for whatever it is that they do for you.
The best way to avoid feeling "owned" by a company is to start one yourself. Or, be so valuable that you can either strike those non-compete terms from your contract, or get paid so much while you do work there that you don't really care if you have to take a year off of your career when you leave. But there is no "slavery essentially" involved, in that it's all about choice, for everybody involved.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
Does Microsoft ever win a lawsuit?
Ah, but you forget that there is a Beowulf cluster of moderators. They're probably in Soviet Russia ogling Natalie Portman.
C|N>K
Comment removed based on user account deletion
That line is just MSFT spin. They wanted to KEEP google from being able to use him in any role. MSFT lost.
As it stands, Kung Fu gets to open a shop in China, and every comp sci in China will be sending him their resume.
He's not allowed to use his skills learned at MSFT. The man has a long career from Apple and other places before he worked at MSFT. The burden is on MSFT to show he is violating his contract.
And it's only until the trial is over.
And MSFT is no angel. Anyone remember the Dead Borland Society? From the late 90's when MSFT held a "technology expo" next to Borland and offered all their top people several multiples of their Borland salaries to come to the dark side? Brain draining is illegal under california law.
That little stunt cost MSFT an "undisclosed sum of money" paid out to Borland. Settled out of court, naturally (no public record).
Anders Heljsborg (spelling?) got paid something like $6 million dollars and also a huge golden parachute to go over and architect visual studio.
Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
It actually goes much deeper. China is a huge market about to explode into a growth surge beyond imagination. Opportunities exist within a narrow window for both MS and Google to establish partnerships and business relationships with the companies that will become the movers and shakers in China for the next century. It will be a challenge to any company to adapt their business methods to the local environment, deal with a government much different from their experience, and earn trust and market share from the Chinese people. China also represents a huge potential source of IT talent just waiting for a direction. Google and MS will be competing for the Gorden Bells, Dan Bricklins, Gates, Jobs, Allens and Wozs of China. Influencing the directions taken in the creation of the Chinese IT industry is the equivalent of influencing the next major stage in the evolution of a connected World - and arguably the next stage in human evolution. It's an opportunity to create a new paradigm from the ground up. And there will be money. Unholy low Earth orbit high shitpiles of money.
Of course all this starts with the boots-on-the-ground presence. Google has chosen Kai-Fu Lee as their point man. He joins a growing group at the core of Google that includes some of the most influential and experienced people in the IT community. Coupled with Google's track record in product development and unique corporate culture, this collection of talent establishes Google as a driving force in the industry. It also validates Google's reputation for having its heart in the right place. Lee will bring Google and the Google vision to China. He will be one of the people shaping the relationship between China and the rest of the world. He could work anywhere. Microsoft wanted him so bad they sued to keep him. He chose Google. And he left MS, lawsuits and all. If he never speaks of his experience at MS again, he has already made a powerful statement. And if he can earn the trust of the Chinese people and government, Mr. Lee, and Google, will make many more.
billy - most noncompete contracts in the mainstream business community are about the relationships with a company's clients...to prevent you from moving to another company and taking your customers with you