Whistleblowing IT Director Fired By FL State Attorney
An anonymous reader writes "Ben Kruidbos, the IT director for the Florida State Attorney's Office who'd spoken up when important cellphone evidence he'd extracted from Trayvon Martin's cellphone was withheld by the state from the defense, was fired by messenger at 7:30 PM Friday, after closing arguments in the Zimmerman case. He was told that he could not be 'trusted to set foot in this office,' and that he was being fired for incompetence. Kruidbos had received a merit pay raise earlier this year. The firing letter also blames him for consulting a lawyer, an obvious sign of evil."
... get fired. I see a trend here.
Veni, Vidi, Velcro!
Hope he does. it's obviously not incompetence and blaming for seeking legal advice is just stupid to use as reasoning for incompetence.
"that if they feel like there is wrongdoing,” they should not disclose it or seek legal guidance from a private attorney.
“If they do speak to an attorney, then they are dead,” he said. “The State Attorney’s Office will do whatever is necessary to not only terminate them, but destroy their reputations in the process.”
coming from state attorneys office that's actually pretty funny. saying it like that covers also seeking advice on illegal working conditions and what have you..
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
The US government is sending a message: "We don't like whistle-blowers".
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
It sounds like the Florida State Attorney's Office has some s'plainin' to do. Withholding evidence from the defense is really, super unethical; I wouldn't be surprised if you could be disbarred for it. This is a highly politicized case, and it's not surprising that the state really wants to win it to save face, but really guys? Doing that kind of shit under the color of public authority is fucked up. Like Nifong (see Duke lacrosse) fucked up..
Seriously, I think the state had a pretty good manslaughter case against Zimmerman, but with all the antics they've been pulling, they are just asking to get an acquittal or an overturn on appeal. You can't go and give a guy a good performance eval and a raise, and then suddenly fire him and claim that he's a bad employee when he reveals that you may have been messing with evidence.
The worst part? Sounds like the evidence wasn't really relevant.
I hope this guys successfully sues these idiots.
And now they're lashing out in spite at whoever's nearest. No coincidence that this only happened after the jury retired.
Oh, look. They want to pay him and his attorneys a lot of money! Great 'retirement' option!
Idiots.
No! It's a *SIG*. Keep the Special Interest Groups away! (Con joke!)
Trying to fit the debate between freedom and tyranny into a debate about Republicans and Democrats, is like comparing apples and oranges to illustrate the difference between fruit and rocks. Nice try though.
Obama hired Zimmerman to shoot Trayvon so he wouldn't have to pay child support.
Trayvon didn't just "look like" his son...
Is nothing more than a dog and pony show to convict Zimmerman. I don't care either way what the verdict is - but lets call a spade a spade. The political push to prosecute him from the President down doesn't surprise me that the state was hiding evidence to support their case.
Was the computer assigned to him to be wiped clean as part of his duties as IT Director? The letter doesn't say.
Umm, where does it say that? Working for a public university in IT I regularly wipe my machine clean to install latest version of software and for testing. The public records laws require that I keep records of emails (which we have servers designed specifically to do that.
When you cant win, ad hominem.
Instead of "firing by messenger" should had been "shooting the messenger"
I expect this diligent, law-abiding citizen to make a couple hundred grand on a wrongful termination action, and hopefully there will be some consequences for his boss under whistleblower statutes as well.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Shocking, isn't it?
Wait, not shocking.... What's the word I was looking for?
Oh yeah: business as usual.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Looks like the little Nifong wannabe who fired him is looking at a trial of her own for lying to get a warrant.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Not everyone that betrays a position of trust is a whistle-blower.
What kind of Mickey Mouse country do I live in.
If you live in Florida you live in a Mickey Mouse State.
Was it Windows Vista? My guess is the need to wipe that crap off there was entirely legitimate.
If Microsoft built houses, a blown light bulb would require you to bulldoze the house and rebuild it. Sure hope you were able to back up your furniture and appliances.
And EVERY SINGLE AGENCY at every level of government that's covered by a public records law is also covered by provisions of that law that recognize that they aren't about to keep every damn thing that has ever been stored on it. Go read up on NARA and federal records-retention regulations... every agency of every government that is covered by a public records law has some means to account for legitimate needs to wipe computers. Every single one.
---------------------------------------
Rotate the pod, please, HAL....
You knuckleheads couldn't resist, could you? Perfectly good discussion of "when do you, as an IT person, have a moral and possibly legal obligation to intercede when unethical shenanigans goes on with your area of expertise," and you turn it the Twitter feed on Nancy Grace about an unremarkable trial in some shithole in Florida.
I remember when /. wasn't /b/
They should have never let you AOLusers on the real internet, just kept you in the box pink dialup sandbox.
---------------------------------------
Rotate the pod, please, HAL....
Get 'em
Maybe - he'd have to find a lawyer that will do it on a contingency basis, and it would have to have some potential for a really big cash settlement/judgement before one will touch it. OTOH, maybe there's a lawyer who figures it'd be good for a little publicity - who knows?
Either way, it would take months, if not years, before the guy saw any justice/money/compensation/etc. Unfortunately, no CxO in his/her right mind would even think of hiring the guy in the interim, given the toxicity of the events and who is backing the potential defendants (seriously, would you want to catch the attention of the AG's office, potentially exposing your company to "extra scrutiny" if they felt like playing dirty pool against the guy? Didn't think so.)
Chilling effects all around, truth be told - he'll ahve to move out of the reach of that office before he could even hope to find a job, let alone pursue a lawsuit. Unless the state governor gets involved and (IMHO rightfully) fucks over the AG execs who did this to him, the dude is kinda fucked.
IMHO, it stands as a very good reason why you'll never get me to work for any law firm, government (let alone prosecutor's) office, or suchlike. Unless you find a lot of good juicy skeletons in their closets early on (and keep the evidence secure), the boss(es) there would pretty much own your ass, ethics be damned.
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
Peek is apparently an idiot with regards to technology. The public records laws apply to emails, documents, and correspondence, all of which would be stored on central servers.
She's also trying to condense a 29 page chapter of Florida law into one sentence. It can't be done. There are many, many paragraphs of exemptions, qualifications, definitions, etc., that would have to be sorted through by a lawyer before they could even charge, let alone convict him. It's also entirely probable that wiping a terminated employee's computer is standard practice. First they need to prove there was data on the hard drive that shouldn't have been there, then they need to prove the data was wiped maliciously. Both are unlikely.
Further, the letter states that Mr. Kruidbos committed a crime-- If there isn't evidence, then Ms. Peek's letter may be itself grounds for legal action.
Unfortunately, that would require killing off all the people that VOTED these people into office.
It would probably be for the best. The Nazis and Russians did it backwards: Instead of killing the intelligentsia in conquered nations, they SHOULD have killed off all the retards. Just imagine what it would be like if everyone with an IQ of 110 or lower in America was killed and used as food. Of course, the IQ measuring system would need to be recalibrated after that, but sometimes a few eggs have to be broken if you want an omelet.
Obviously, most people would object to the implementation of such a plan because, well, most Americans are fucking retards (and know that they would be voting for their own death sentence).
It's an interesting question -- would the state be required to provide the decryption of a block of data, or just the block of data? How about data that isn't really encrypted, but just in some normal binary data encoding that would require some expert to figure out and extract the text and pictures?
Is the state required to turn over every interpretation of that block of data?
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
"You can't do that."
Sure you can. As long as you back up the files that you are required by law to keep, you can do any damned thing you want with a hard drive.
"BULL SHIT."
As a former IT manager myself, I can tell you that it's probably anything BUT bullshit. Somebody leaves for another job? Back up important stuff, wipe the hard drive, install everything fresh. Sometimes maybe 2-3 machines in one day, depending on the size of the office you are managing.
You can get caned even if you are the CEO.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-metra-clifford-memo-20130714,0,2783610.story
Seriously the OSW "99%" whining is really, really stupid.
So let's do a bit of analysis: You have to be making over $400,000 per year (or have multiple millions in the bank) to be in the top 1% in the US. Everything under that is, by definition, "the 99%". The median income in the US is about $50,000 which would be "the 50%".
So, what is life like there? Well I have a fairly good idea, what with making around that. At that income you can afford to own your own house. Not a huge one, but plenty of space. You can afford to have a car that is nice, and in good working order, you don't have to fight with a junker. You can have all the appliances of modern life: dishwasher, fridge, washer/dryer, A/C, stove, etc, etc. You can get more food than you can or should eat, even if you eat out semi-regularly. You can have entertainment, like a bigscreen TV, surround sound, modern computer, broadband Internet, etc. You have enough money you can afford to put some in savings, to deal with unexpected events and not be thrown into debt by them.
In other words, you can have a damn good life. I want for nothing, I have an exceedingly good standard of living on a global scale and I am very, very grateful for it. Do "the 1%" have it better than me? Sure, but I am not "fighting scraps" (I presume you meant fighting for scraps). I am sitting in my air conditioned home, typing on my nice 30" computer screen while contemplating which of my many food options I wish to avail myself of for dinner. That is not a bad life in any way, shape, or form.
So seriously, stop with the uninformed bitching. Stop with this class warfare "1%" type shit. There IS an income inequity problem in the US and we do need to look at it. However it is not a case of "all of us vs them" nor is it valid to pretend that everyone who isn't the most privileged of the elite are starving in the streets.
Also, when you start talking equality, you might want to look on the global scene. You may well BE "the 1%" globally. Starts are a little hard but the median GDP in terms of purchasing power parity is like $12,000. So you can say if you want true equality that anyone making more than that, including you probably, need to give up their money.
The Zimmerman trial has been nothing short of a farce from the get go. It is reminiscent of Soviet-era show trials because the race baiters have turned this into a witch-hunt.
1.The original probable cause affidavit was so riddled with mistakes and inaccuracies that even a 1L (first year law student) wouldn't make such a mistake. To put speculations in an affidavit and then to swear, under of penalty of perjury, that they are facts is perpetrating fraud upon the court. Affidavits are not places where you speculate or state what your gut feeling is or what you think might have happened. It is a place to state facts. In addition, deliberately omitting evidence from the affidavit that is exculpatory in nature is unethical. Even Alan Dershowitz, who is about as left as you can get, blasted their handiwork.
2.The media has been doing their damnedest to make this about race. Every thing from inventing new terms, like white hispanic, to altering Zimmerman's photo to make him appear whiter and only showing pictures of Trayvon Martin when he was much younger to make him appear more angelic and innocent. In addition, they have been working tirelessly to plant the idea of having riots into peoples minds by continuously bringing it up.
3.The prosecution's entire side was a joke. I mean, Rachel Jeantel changed her story so many times that you would need an entire notebook to keep track of all of them. It was also painfully obvious that she had been coached by the prosecution. The other "witnesses" weren't much better.
4.There is no evidence for murder and the prosecution knows it. Even if the jury convicts (most likely, out of fear for their life or just plain idiocy since jurors are picked based on their emotional susceptibility rather than their intelligence), it will be overturned so fast on appeal that they won't even know what hit them. The case for manslaughter isn't much better and introducing that AFTER the defense has rested is highly unethical on the part of both the judge and the prosecution.
5.Speaking of the judge, she is a life long democrat and has demonstrated very clear evidence of bias. When George Zimmerman refused to testify, she disparaged and criticized him. A defendant has the right not to testify and it is highly unethical for a judge to browbeat a defendant for that because you are not allowed to make a negative inference from an exercise of the 5th amendment.
6.Now we get evidence that the prosecution is, once again, withholding exculpatory evidence. To go after the whistleblower, who blew the whistle on their unethical and illegal activities, just demonstrates how truly execrable the prosecution is.
Regardless of what you think of George Zimmerman, regardless of what you think of Trayvon Martin, regardless of who you think is to blame, regardless of whether you think George Zimmerman was racist, you should not be supporting such a mockery of justice. Everyone accused of a crime deserves their change to have a proper, fair, and just trial. This is nothing of the sort; it is a show trial and a political witch hunt.
What?! What does being black have to do with cuts on knuckles?!
not guilty
Either way, it would take months, if not years, before the guy saw any justice/money/compensation/etc. Unfortunately, no CxO in his/her right mind would even think of hiring the guy in the interim, given the toxicity of the events and who is backing the potential defendants
A CxO in their right mind would be able to hire the guy...it takes integrity to stand up to a superior for what's just and what's legal; understanding the risk that you might be fired for it.
Integrity, Intelligence, and Energy are the the most important characteristics to look for in a good employee, and Integrity is the hardest to find -- but the most important one.
At that income you can afford to own your own house. Not a huge one, but plenty of space.
I've never been able to afford to buy a house, despite several years of an apparently "upper middle class income". For one thing, my employment isn't stable enough, despite having a BS in Computer Science and being very, very good at what I do.
You can afford to have a car that is nice, and in good working order, you don't have to fight with a junker.
My cars are 21 and 26 years old. They're in good working order because I've paid through the nose to keep them maintained.
You can have all the appliances of modern life: dishwasher, fridge, washer/dryer, A/C, stove, etc, etc.
I bought the fridge ~10 years ago on a payment plan. I bought the washer/dryer used from an appliance-repair shop. Everything else in your list came with the (rental) house.
You can get more food than you can or should eat, even if you eat out semi-regularly.
I cook most of my own food, to keep costs down. I buy 50 pound bags of pinto beans for $30. I make a lot of meatloaf and chili.
You can have entertainment, like a bigscreen TV, surround sound, modern computer, broadband Internet, etc.
My widescreen TV is 6 years old, and my newest computer is 7 years old. I have a surround-sound system, but it doesn't fit in my current house.
You have enough money you can afford to put some in savings, to deal with unexpected events and not be thrown into debt by them.
That's all I seem to save up for — periods of unemployment. Retirement is an impossible dream.
I want for nothing, I have an exceedingly good standard of living on a global scale and I am very, very grateful for it.
You won't have it for long. The federal government is bankrupt several times over, and the federal bank is now inventing money out of thin air (not even printing it...it just changes a number in a computer), giving the money away at 0% interest to prop up the stock market, and buying government debt with the money it just created out of thin air. This is not sustainable. The only reason the U.S. gets away with this is that Europe is presently in worse shape.
Do "the 1%" have it better than me? Sure, but I am not "fighting [for] scraps".
I apply for job after job, several of which I match perfectly, and hear nothing back. The book Why Good People Can't Get Jobs provided some catharsis — at least I don't have to feel so paranoid and cynical — but it doesn't actually help to know any of this. I sure feel like I'm fighting for scraps.
Someone once said they'd rather be lucky than smart. Amen to that.
"Once we've identified and embraced our sickness, we'll have strength...and that's when we get dangerous." - John Waters
I agree, but if you do find a CxO with that kind of integrity, well, you really found a rare bird.
Meanwhile, I'm watching Ms. Corey spew out excuses for having just lost the case. Seems the jury proclaimed Mr. Zimmerman Not Guilty.
So not only will she have to put up with pissed-off constituents (both for Mr. Zimmerman because she pulled these hijinks, and again because she lost), now she'll likely have to put up with the potential lawsuit from the former IT dude in TFA.
I find it extremely interesting that she's *still* trying to press her case for locking the guy up, in spite of having just lost. It tends to support the allegations about her in TFA more than ever, truth be told.
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
You can get caned even if you are the CEO.
I'm pretty sure that's only in Singapore.
I am not a crackpot.
You are incorrect about the burden of proof and an affirmative defense: the standard vary by offense and state.
In Florida, the Standard Jury Instructions clearly specify that an affirmative defense has the benefit of any reasonable doubt.
I agree, but if you do find a CxO with that kind of integrity, well, you really found a rare bird.
They don't need to have it, they only need to value it in others.
Ineffectual or not they apparently pissed off whoever sicced the police on them...
I can think of no other reason than striking a golden nerve that the police would be motivated to respond with force to a peaceful protest.
Each one of those 3 actions is proscribed by neighborhood watch guides.
Oh really. What "guide" is that? Or is it something you are simply parroting because someone else claimed it was so on the internet?
Nothing like that in this guide.
An easier way to see it is if Martin had been a woman. Zimmerman has a gun and starts following a woman.
Yes, it's pretty clear to me that had a woman thrown Zimmerman to the ground and started beating him senseless simply for following her and asking why she was there, he should have shot her also. Because RATIONAL people do not throw people to the ground and start beating them to death without ANY physical provocation. And It's pretty sexist of you to think women cannot be criminals either.
She uses pepper spray and while he's blinded, she kicks him. So he shoots her. No one would be sympathizing with Zimmerman.
In that case it's pretty obvious she would not be shot because she was not trying to kill him, just get away. So no, we would not be sympathizing with Zimmerman because shooting her would be obviously wrong.
The reason Zimmerman shot a guy is the same reason he was found not guilty. Because he only did so when his life was threatened, and unreasonable reaction from someone merely being followed. Do you honestly consider it OK to start beating a guys head against the pavement just because he annoys you?
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Withholding evidence needs to be the highest class of felony.
i don't know about asked or if it was just part of his job duties, but he apparently thought the dump report file size was too small for a source dump of that size, looked into it, reported it, asked if his findings had been shared and didn't ever get an answer to that.
i can only speculate that he probably didn't know the defense had their own IT guy, and so was assuming the defense would be operating with incomplete information (regardless of if the pics and text were relevant in the end or not).
concerned that he might face legal trouble later, if it turned out that the SAO hadn't forwarded the info, he reached out to an attorney he knew about that and things escalated from there.
Agreed. He'll probably lay low and pursue it after a change in administration.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Oooh, excellent point. It calls to mind the old saying "Sincerity in business is very important. When you can fake sincerity, you've got it made."
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
How much food and such costs depends a LOT on where you life. Not all cities are equal in this regard.
I also notice the parent never mentions insurance. Why not?
Also what happens if he loses his job? Loses a limb? Child is born with a major handicap?
50k might not be a bad salary in some places but how would he do if the shit hits the fan? Or his wife drops three kids instead of one?
Or 50k is all he will be getting for the rest of his life, inflation be damned? That is what is happening at least in IT right now in Holland, programmers jobs, even the so called good payers, have been offering the same wages for several years now and no, inflation hasn't been zero. You can get poor just by earning the same salary year after year.
I am not complaining to much, but then I got zero responsibilities but people raising a family? They need more or they are just a paycheck away from the poor house.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
>> I agree, but if you do find a CxO with that kind of integrity, well, you really found a rare bird.
> They don't need to have it, they only need to value it in others.
Wrong! If I know that I have no integrity and that sooner or later I'm going to go illegal to reach my goals, I don't want somebody that won't hesitate to call the policy on my actions lurking around.
A CxO in their right mind would be able to hire the guy...it takes integrity to stand up to a superior for what's just and what's legal; understanding the risk that you might be fired for it.
Exactly. I would certainly hire him if I had need for his services, and I bet the libertarian enclave that is growing in New Hampshire would also be happy to hire him.
It is unfortunate that so many think that dishonesty is not only acceptable, but that its actually right to be dishonest. No, it really isnt. Soon enough everyone in your organization will need to be dishonest, and the dishonesty itself will have to be the merit that pays the bills, or else it will all come tumbling down. It is also unfortunate that in government, dishonesty really can be the merit that pays the bills.
"His name was James Damore."
Pardon me for not knowing this, as i live in Russia, but i thought that bold "First World countries" of N.America had gender equality for a while now. Because this vision of "poor fearful helpless woman" being compared to "evil situation-controlling armed man" doesn't really fit in the image of proud modern unbiased citizen of such a society, where gender difference should not make a difference.
Not does appeal to emotion (fear in this case) by all those "get a girlfriend and ask her" claims has its place as an argument in objective discussion about facts in places, which heralding themselves as the leaders of the civilized world.
And also i didn't know that preemptively bashing heads of people you don't like is a valid night stroll activity there. Creepy.
who dares wins
Which average? He specifically stated the median.
If you're talking about the mean, specifically the arithmetic one, say so.
Bathtub schmathtub. Do you spend a lot of time mopping the floor?
It looks a lot more like a [strongly] positive-skewed normal to me.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
The Florida state attorneys office needs to be fired. They are supposed to be the ones standing up for truth and right, for the people.
Remember folks political organizations many times employ people based on politics. The big loss here will come from the inevitable law suit from this guy on the state, the department and the the guy personally. You know no pain until you get humiliated in a pretrial deposition hearing where there are no limits to the outrage they can pull on you oh and yes in civl court there is no 5th amendment, just answering the questions they ask, failure to do so is contempt of court.The real losers arent the litigation participants so much as the tax payers of Florida that will be on the hook, win or lose for the court costs.
That's fine... when there's no profiteering middlemen. Just because it's socialism doesn't mean government agencies, bureaucrats, or contractors won't become profiteers.
Such a system cannot work in the state the US is currently in. We've got enough graft as it is. Maybe someday when our politicians can work together for the good of the people instead of their vanity and/or pocketbooks...
I won't join Slashcott. OTOH, If Beta goes live, I just won't be back until it's fixed. Sorry Dice.
My question..what are the taxpayers and voters of FL going to do about it.
Jack of all trades,master of none
Is it really owned by Disney? ABC is, and that is bad.
You allow users to store important stuff on the single machine? It cannot then be important.
Median income is not representative of what most people would consider 'average' income. Let me illustrate by example; Consider the following 15 numbers --
1,3,2,5,4,2,4,5,7,15,7,5,3,53,74
The average is (rounded up) 13. However, the odds of you making average are better are only 1 in 5. 4 out of 5 times, if you're given one of those random numbers, you're going to be getting a "lower than average" number. This is essentially the heart of the OWS movement, and people like you who argue about "median" income are woefully undereducated about the realities of the wealth inequity distribution problem in the United States.
You've confused Median with Mean. The mean average in your example is 12.6 . But that's not what he was talking about. He was talking about the median. The median average in your example (aka the 50th percentile) is 5. Half the values are above 5, and half are below 5.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Average
In colloquial language average usually means the sum of a list of numbers divided by the size of the list, in other words the arithmetic mean. However, it can alternatively mean the median, the mode, or some other central or typical value.
Now Sycraft-fu explicitly said that he was talking about median, and not "average". (I'm not about to take the time to check his numbers.) Unless you think he accidentally used mean and called it median, then you're off base here.
I won't join Slashcott. OTOH, If Beta goes live, I just won't be back until it's fixed. Sorry Dice.
Just a heads up. Please be careful with the term "blaming the victim". It is racially charged. In an era when "the N word" has greater power to get someone fired than a pound of [insert illicit substance], it is wise to tread carefully around such phrases. That's doubly true when discussing a so-called "race" issue like the Zimmerman trial.
From wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blame_the_victim
The phrase has since taken on a life of it's own. Sometimes it is entirely valid. Sometimes it is a very weak excuse. It does have a tendency to be used when "race relations" topics come up.
I've not read the Moynihan Report. I don't know if he was racist or not. His point, though, laid out in summary, is spot on -- at least as one of the enduring causes of familial poverty. (And race does run in families.) Ryan's work to discredit Moynihan (as I understand it) has done incalculable damage.
For the record, I see "broken" families where the father can participate, but chooses not to, as tragic, regardless of race. It's really not a racial issue, but a social one. There just happens to be a racial skew for historic reasons. Like domestic abuse, this too is often a learned behavior that needs to be broken by brave sons who choose to be better than their fathers.
Sorry. End of tangent.
I won't join Slashcott. OTOH, If Beta goes live, I just won't be back until it's fixed. Sorry Dice.
Isn't that what started all this?
No, actually. The 911 tape seemed to show that was cut together by NBC, probably for ratings.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/upshot/nbc-fires-producer-over-edited-zimmerman-911-call-201124740.html
"This guy looks like he's up to no good. Or he's on drugs or something. It's raining and he's just walking around, looking about." Then the dispatcher asked, "O.K., and this guy — is he white, black or Hispanic?" To which Zimmerman replied, "He looks black."
A neighborhood watchman reported a suspicious person to dispatch. Dispatch then asked for a description... race specifically. So far, nothing especially outrageous.
This got edited to:
"This guy looks like he's up to no good. He looks black."
Which sounds quite racist, and really got a lot of people worked up.
So, no. Whatever started this, it wasn't a [derogatory-racial-slur] being called a [gardening-tool].
I won't join Slashcott. OTOH, If Beta goes live, I just won't be back until it's fixed. Sorry Dice.
Either way, it would take months, if not years, before the guy saw any justice/money/compensation/etc. Unfortunately, no CxO in his/her right mind would even think of hiring the guy in the interim, given the toxicity of the events and who is backing the potential defendants
A CxO in their right mind would be able to hire the guy...it takes integrity to stand up to a superior for what's just and what's legal;
understanding the risk that you might be fired for it.
Integrity, Intelligence, and Energy are the the most important characteristics to look for in a good employee, and Integrity is the hardest to find -- but the most important one.
Assuming it's actually integrity and not disgruntlement...
blindly antisocialist = antisocial
I hope the lawsuit over this gets more than a little publicity. I see a lot of zeroes coming a certain now-unemployed guy's way.
In SOVIET RUSSIA... erm...NSA AMERICA, the Internet logs onto YOU!
There were no cuts on his knuckles.
There was a small abrasion in the ring area between knuckles.
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
His attorney Wesley White — who resigned from the State Attorney’s Office in December and is a critic of Corey — said the firing was aimed at sending a message to office employees “that if they feel like there is wrongdoing,” they should not disclose it or seek legal guidance from a private attorney.
“If they do speak to an attorney, then they are dead,” he said. “The State Attorney’s Office will do whatever is necessary to not only terminate them, but destroy their reputations in the process.”
OK so .If you do not understand these rights and you cannot afford one an attorney will
be appointed for you.
If you retain an attorney you will be sacked and unable to afford one....
The attorney will be appointed by --- you guessed it.
Kafka would be happy with this...
Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't. Mark Twain.
Assuming it's actually integrity and not disgruntlement...
For a professional: disgruntlement generally means they are not being given the appropriate consideration and respect as a person.
Generally, such a thing won't be disgruntlement -- but if they're one of the few insane ones, then a proper interview should weed them out.