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UploadVR Had a 'Kink Room,' Pressured Female Employees To 'Microdose,' Alleges Lawsuit (gizmodo.com)

The virtual-reality company UploadVR is being sued by the company's former Director of Digital and Social Media for rampant sexual harassment. According to Gizmodo, "the lawsuit alleges that the company's employees and founders created a hostile work environment in which sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and retaliation occurred on a regular basis." From the report: In the suit documents, the former Director of Digital and Social Media for UploadVR claims that the office environment was a "boy's club" that employees expressly referred to as a "boy's club." From the suit: "Specifically, the male employees of UploadVR, including Mason and Freeman, would discuss their sexual exploits in graphic detail at the workplace in front of Plaintiff and other female employees. For instance, UploadVR employee [name redacted]'s sex life was a frequent topic of conversation. The other male employees would talk about how he 'refuses to wear a condom' and 'has had sex with over 1000 people.'" The documents also claim that employees were engaged in Silicon Valley's hot new trend of "microdosing" and "using Marijuana in the office." When female employees didn't want to participate, they would be ostracized by the male employees and excluded from important meetings and lunches.

63 of 444 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Hiring practices... by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Sounds kind of like certain people letting their on-line behaviors, formed from years of anonymous social media interaction, extend to the real world. Not that similar poor behavior hasn't happened before, just pondering it as a 'potential' contributor.

  2. Re:VC Round by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Funny

    but you'd suppose that the VC's would check for this sort of thing in the due diligence phase.

    The VCs were too busy microdosing.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  3. Re:Hiring practices... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is what you get for hiring a bunch of phricks.

    News flash: most men and most women are exactly like this.

    Don't believe me about women? You don't think that when they get together that they discuss their own sexual exploits, menstruation, or whatever other topic they care to discuss?

    The reason this is happening is because those who pretend to be our betters and deign to tell us what is acceptable behavior have systematically gone about destroying societal norms for the last few generations. There was a time when a group of men would have the common sense and decency to confirm discussion such as those described to the locker room, club, or some other place outside of mixed company. Of course, if you spend 50 years telling boys that girls are not different than them and that they are exactly the same, then why are you going to be surprised when boys act like boys and include girls in the conversation? I mean, girls are no different, right?

    Then, if you have the temerity to teach boys that they need to treat girls in a particular way you are socially lynched for perpetrating the patriarchy, subjugating women, etc., etc. Oh well, this is a no win situation if every I saw one.

  4. Re:VC Round by Mal-2 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "Microdosing is for pussies," said John McAfee as he prepared to hit the pipe.

    (Hint: not serious. But he probably would feel something like this.)

    --
    How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
  5. Re:Phrasing is the key by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Did you even read the lawsuit? I think "condom wrappers and underwear on the floor of the office" is pretty unambiguous. Not everything is some cryptosemite conspiracy.

  6. Re:Phrasing is the key by AmiMoJo · · Score: 5, Informative

    I left a place years ago because the guys were really creepy like that, and I'm a dude. At another place we had to ask the new parents to tone down the discussion of their children's potty training.

    The company employees made sure it was a gender specific problem. They specifically referred to their office as a "boy's club". And then there is shit like this:

    The founders and other employees are accused of speaking "sexually" about female employees right to their face, and one employee would, allegedly, talk about having "a boner" and going to the bathroom to "rub one out" in order to maintain focus. The suit clarifies that to mean "he was going to the restroom to masturbate."

    and

    A section describing how women were expected to do "womanly tasks" describes an environment that was cartoonishly sexist. Female employees were expected to clean up after events and parties, while men were not. The defendants allegedly told the plaintiff that women should be âoemommiesâ and help the men with whatever they needed.

    From the sound of it they are royally fucked, because there are emails about STD test results and looking for docile women on their far eastern business trips. The "kink room" just sounds gross, and clearly they didn't take any HR advice as it would be an obvious form of sexual harassment for any gender.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  7. Re:Seriously simplify your life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Or hire only women. You can save up to 70% on salaries.

  8. Re:Phrasing is the key by The+Evil+Atheist · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How nice of you to completely ignore talking about the female employees in a sexual manner right in front of them. They weren't just talking about their own sex life. Phrasing is the key, and your obvious attempt to gloss over the thing that's actually wrong shows what you really think people like you should be allowed to do.

    And excluding workers from important meetings who didn't participate in the drugs is not merely laughing at them. It's actively preventing them from performing their job. And one of them was terminated for complaining about it. You obviously think it's okay to terminate people for complaining about behaviour then.

    This can only ever be neutral if you straight up ignore the actual details.

    --
    Those who do not learn from commit history are doomed to regress it.
  9. Re:Seriously simplify your life by arglebargle_xiv · · Score: 2, Insightful

    And lose it all again on paid maternity leave.

    Yeah, OK, I'll probably get modded flamebait for that, but it was worth it :-).

  10. Re:VC Round by arglebargle_xiv · · Score: 3, Funny

    "I'm gonna call me a coupla hard, pipe-hittin McAfees.."... naah, it just doesn't sound the same.

  11. Re:Hiring practices... by ruir · · Score: 2

    I doubt they were hiring pricks. They were them...

  12. No surprise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Egos are out of control in tech. The fact that they are high all the time is most definitely reflected in their ridiculous and hair-brained ideas. It makes it that much easier to pull the rug out from inder them. A lot of new tech will fail due to their being a bunch of hateful, oblivious, drug-addled douchebags that were only suffering from adolescent superiority complexes rather than a actually ever having been all that bright in the first place. Pathetic, all of them, from top to bottom.

  13. Re:Phrasing is the key by lucasnate1 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I was sexually assaulted as a 10 year old. When saying it to feminists they will repeatedly say "you are a man, it does not count". But thanks for wishing me another assault, it sure as hell shows how behind your "feminist" facade you are just another person wishing for someone to be assaulted. I guess that because I'm a man it makes it ok.

  14. Re:I RTFAd by netsavior · · Score: 4, Interesting

    exactly what it sounds like... taking a low dose of drugs. usually many times a day.
    the alcohol equivalent that most people have probably done would be taking one drink every hour or so, with water in-between so you can drink and socialize and get slightly affected without actually getting intoxicated.

  15. Re:Seriously simplify your life by avandesande · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I am a man and wouldn't want to work there. I hate specious and or frivolous lawsuits but in this case hope they get maxed.

    --
    love is just extroverted narcissism
  16. Re:Hiring practices... by drinkypoo · · Score: 5, Informative

    Yes, it is taking very small doses of various drugs like LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, MDA... (But not MDMA, which is not perceptible at microdose levels, according to Alexander Shulgin.) It's not that hard to keep the dose small, you just cut it up, same as a prescription pill.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  17. Silicon Valley by wisnoskij · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hay, it's a free country. If you don't like assholes and drugs then move out of California.

    --
    Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
  18. Re:Phrasing is the key by EndlessNameless · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Someone didn't read the entire article. They were way over the line.

    Because if you read the article, it was clearly both very inappropriate and targeted behavior:

    The founders and other employees are accused of speaking “sexually” about female employees right to their face, and one employee would, allegedly, talk about having “a boner” and going to the bathroom to “rub one out” in order to maintain focus.

    Making unwanted sexual comments directly to someone is the textbook definition of sexual harassment. Masturbating on company time is just over the top.

    If their director of social media is acting like a retarded frat boy and encouraging the same in others, he needs to go. If the company gets hit with a lawsuit because they couldn't figure that out on their own, well, too bad.

    --

    ---
    According to the latest ruleset, this post should be modded as Vorpal Flamebait +5.
  19. Re:Hiring practices... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yes, concluding that men and women are different could not possibly be arrived at through observation and experience. It is clearly the result of mental illness.

  20. Re:Hiring practices... by Ambassador+Kosh · · Score: 5, Interesting

    None of my friends have EVER acted like this when I have been around them. I have also not encountered this before at any company I have worked at.

    Every business I have worked with would have had the offending employees get one warning and then be out the door the next time it happened. I can't even imagine any engineering company being okay with "microdosing". The liability alone would kill that idea.

    Even when I have been in a group of only male masters or phd students we mostly talked about science, engineering, movies, games etc kind of topics but not sexual exploits.

    This is reprehensible behavior and should not be tolerated.

    --
    Computer modeling for biotech drug manufacturing is HARD! :)
  21. Boys will be boys. by hey! · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Which is why boys need adult supervision. Men, specifically, to set an example.

    A man acts with dignity, self-restraint, and consideration for others. He doesn't do shit just because the people around him are doing it, and he doesn't pressure other people do things without a good reason.

    If none of that sounds like any fun, feeling obligated to impress other guys with bullshit isn't any fun either. It's a bigger, more joyless burden than acting like a grownup, you just haven't figured that out yet.

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    1. Re:Boys will be boys. by avandesande · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It's not masculine at all. Running around with no self control over what you say or do just makes you a child.

      --
      love is just extroverted narcissism
    2. Re: Boys will be boys. by hey! · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "Professional" only means "doing it for money". Nothing else.

      You know, I was going to note that the atmosphere was unprofessional, except that I suspected we've reached a point where people don't even know what professionalism means.

      Of course contrary to your claim there are in fact many different definitions for the world "professional", the one I'm talking about is the antonym of "unprofessional", the one you're talking about is the one that's the antonym of "hobbyist". You are talking about people like professional competitive eaters; I'm talking about people like civil engineers.

      Professionalism is performing a job in a way that maintains public trust and respect for people who do that job. There are certain vocations, like accountant, or physician, where public trust is essential to their very function. But anyone can act professionally, in the sense of being demonstrably worthy of trust. I once was IT director of a company and had irreconcilable differences with the COO. I could have done a lot of damage to that company, instead I resigned. I took my second in command to the CFO's office and removed an envelope from the safe there where I had put all my passwords in a sealed envelope for safekeeping. Then, with my back turned and the CFO looking on I walked her through revoking all the access I had to the company's systems.

      It was deliberately theatrical, because as a professional you don't just have an obligation to do the right thing, you have to be seen doing the right thing.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    3. Re:Boys will be boys. by hey! · · Score: 2

      It's described that way to further an agenda. But characterizing it that way unjustly stereotypes people.

      One of the things you hopefully learn with age is how little probative value an isolated piece of truth has. You can always find someone who fits a stereotype if you look, but you have to be cautious drawing inferences from that, even if you find a lot of people who fit.

      Everyone has met guys who seem to believe being a man means acting like a jackass. If you've never met that guy, then chances are you are that guy, and if you're an adult the guys around you aren't agreeing with you, they're humoring you.

      That's "toxic masculinity", and it undoubtedly exists. But it's not the whole story, or even most of the story.

      Take sports. I don't care for spectator sports; ice hockey is the only one that I get any enjoyment from. I live in Boston, and the only player on the Patriots, Bruins, Red Sox or Celtics I can name is Tom Brady, and if he broke both his legs before his next game I'd think that was too bad, but I wouldn't feel it personally. I just don't care, and I don't feel the need to care. I don't think this makes me better than people who genuinely care about sports, but I do think it makes me better than people who pretend to care about sports so they won't be seen unmanly.

      This is a trivial example, but the principle involved is the same as in so-called "toxic masculinity": feeling you have to be something you're not just to satisfy other peoples' pointless expectations. Of course women talk about those things from the point of view of how it affects them, but then why shouldn't they? From the point of men trying too hard to appear manly, life is too short to waste time on bullshit pretense.

      The pressure to be fake is pervasive. It affects everyone.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  22. Re:Seriously simplify your life by Ambassador+Kosh · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I agree entirely. As a man I would not have wanted to work there either. I understand a certain amount of off-topic conversations at work but this is way outside what is okay.

    If you discuss a new movie, tv, scientific study, etc at work that is fine so long as it does not take up too much time but not this kind of stuff.

    In general I would also avoid politics and religion. :)

    --
    Computer modeling for biotech drug manufacturing is HARD! :)
  23. Re:Seriously simplify your life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    In Obama's America, female White House Staffers got paid less than their male counterparts. At the very least, Bill Clinton had this level of sexual harassment for years, and by some accounts crossed into rape. Al Gore also engaged in this type of behavior, but his investigation was magically dropped during the Obama years. And yet, you never comment on these because of.....reasons.

    Please, please stop with the anti-Trump bull shit. Do not give people a pass because they play for your fucking team. Take the time to judge ALL politicians, and do so the same way. At that point, then maybe you will have credibility to comment. Until then, you are human trash.

  24. Re:Phrasing is the key by AmiMoJo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I was sexually assaulted as a 10 year old. When saying it to feminists they will repeatedly say "you are a man, it does not count".

    Feminist here. I'm really sorry you had to go through that. I can tell you know, it absolutely does count. Sexual assault against males is a real problem, and one which we want to solve.

    I don't know who you spoke to, but they don't really sound like mainstream feminists. There are some asshats who otherwise have broadly feminist views, even though they, for example, exclude trans women. Like any philosophy, there is no control over who believes it and no control over who calls themselves a feminist, but please understand that it is not mainstream feminist thinking to discount sexual assault of any kind.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  25. Re:Phrasing is the key by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

    We would be eating lunch or drinking coffee and they would start talking about the consistency of their kid's shit, and speculating about what foods caused it to be that way, and how best to clean it up. Once or twice we just made a few noises and they shut up, but somehow it kept coming up.

    Someone, I don't remember who, said something and that was it. They realized that most of us were not used to having another human being's excrement under our fingernails and didn't need to be reminded of the smell or speculate as to what that smell indicated... People get into their little bubbles sometimes and need a gentle reminder of social etiquette sometimes.

    I expect someone will accuse me of being the thought police now.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  26. Re:I RTFAd by geekmux · · Score: 2

    I think it is taking small doses of LSD which allegedly acts as a mild stimulant and creativity booster.

    Oh, we've got that where I work too. We call it a Keurig.

    Only downside is it's an addictive little bastard. You should see how the caffeine junkies act when we're out of product...

  27. Re:Hiring practices... by Ambassador+Kosh · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't find your interest reprehensible. I find it reprehensible that this happened in a company setting. There is a large amount of peer pressure for people to just go along with something especially if their job is involved. Even if people are uncomfortable with something or are even disgusted by it they will often put up with it so they can keep their jobs and get promotions. This creates a hostile working environment and it is not acceptable.

    If you want to talk like this then do it in a context where there is no coercive force on others present.

    --
    Computer modeling for biotech drug manufacturing is HARD! :)
  28. Re:Hiring practices... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 2, Informative

    News flash: most men and most women are exactly like this.

    No they don't. Not in the 20+ years of my technical career. Of course, I worked mostly for Fortune 500 companies. Professionals are expected to act as professional and keep their personal life out of the workplace.

  29. Re:Hiring practices... by lgw · · Score: 2

    This is just "bro-tastic" behavior. The people I choose to associate with don't talk about this sort of BS either, not because it's "reprehensible", but because it's childish, one step above fart jokes. We have more interesting things to discuss.

    On the one hand, this is the sort of BS that's inevitable if you try to staff a tech company with jocks instead of geeks. Never cross the streams! Jocks and frat boys go into sales, obviously. This "brogramming" trend is clearly getting out of hand.

    OTOH, discussing sexual exploits isn't particularly different from discussing the big game last night. I don't care to hear about either sort of athletic behavior, but, hey, headphones, problem solved. Or are we sticking to Victorian or 50s-America notions?

    On the gripping hand - drugs at work? Really? Red flag if I ever saw one. I'm not sure how you'd even filter for that as a candidate, unless the office smelled obviously of MJ or something. Is this something new at frat houses too?

    --
    Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  30. 1999 is calling... by ErichTheRed · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Putting aside the harassment claims for a second, this sounds like what happens when you have an immature "executive team" running a company fueled by large VC investments. If a company's culture encourages a frathouse mentality, and its executives display that culture, that's exactly what regular employees will see and emulate. It goes down to the department level too - I've worked in IT departments for a number of companies, and there are always problem child departments, usually sales. Some salespeople are just walking sexual harassment lawsuits waiting to happen, and companies tend to turn a blind eye to it when they're "rockstar" salespeople. Working in software, there's just some guys you don't want to get paired with on customer visits because they're just embarrassing. Watching an overweight middle aged balding sales dude hitting on a customer's receptionist or female employees (unsuccessfully) is cringe-worthy.

    I do think that years of anonymous online communication as a primary means of interaction does contribute to some of the problems. I'm a guy, and a very liberal laid-back one at that, but it would never occur to me to say or do anything unprofessional at work. I've mentioned on here in the past (and been raked over the coals for it) that people need to understand that free speech doesn't mean you can let whatever comes to your mind slip out. People need to learn impulse control, and not seeing the other person on the other end of your conversation emboldens people to say things they normally wouldn't. Look at any comments section on any online news outlet that uses Facebook logins - even with a person's name, picture and sometimes employment history written right out there, I have a hard time envisioning some people saying the things they say in a public setting.

    What I think is funny is that this second tech bubble is playing out almost exactly the way the first one did. We're headed for the top -- products and services are getting wackier every day, there's a million copycats of every single idea trying to squeeze out the last few VC dollars in a space, and the investors are finally starting to shut off the money faucets. It's almost like 1999 never happened, and no one alive at that time has any memory of it. This is going to be one of many flame-out stories in the next 2 or 3 years.

  31. Re:Hiring practices... by ColdWetDog · · Score: 3, Funny

    So, the homeopathic approach to hallucinogens?

    Hunter S. Thompson wound not approve.

    --
    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  32. The Keurig junkie speaks by XXongo · · Score: 2

    Oh, we've got that where I work too. We call it a Keurig.

    Yes, but that's not micro dosing.

    At least, not the way I use it...

  33. Re:equality! by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

    No, it just means that it would be equally bad if it were a woman doing it.

    Apart from the bit about men and women being "interchangeable" being wrong, what you say makes no logical sense. You might as well argue that instead of complaining about "getting stabbed", women should just buy knives and join in the stabbing because clearly the issue here is equality, not grievous bodily harm.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  34. Re:Hiring practices... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Bullshit. I'm part of a "mixed company" club that shares a locker room on occasion. The conversation is by no means clean, but there's no bragging about sexual exploits or pressuring anyone into doing drugs. Why not? Because we have respect for each other and are there for a specific purpose that has nothing to do with sex and drugs. Some people drink, some people don't. Some people smoke, some people don't. Some people probably do drugs, but they keep that to themselves if they do and don't let it interfere with what we're doing. Some people are having sex with each other, same sex, opposite sex, whatever, but they do that on their own time and don't let it be a distraction. Nobody had to be told to act this way and there are no rules governing it beyond basic conduct when in public. You have to get along with a diverse group of people, often in challenging situations, so you don't act like a total prick. It's simple common sense.

    The "boys' club" mentality is the aberration here. By removing all consequence in a "everything's acceptable because we're all guys" environment, you amplify the absolute worst in human behavior. And then you justify it with the "boys will be boys" defense, assuming that everyone is naturally like that. Except that situation self-selects the loudest and the meanest, forcing everyone else to either go along with it or leave. Because anyone who has a problem with it is told to shut up, ridiculed until they give in, or worse. The assholes are a vocal minority but look like the majority when you let them make the rules. And then that eventually extends beyond the "safe space" of the locker room or wherever into other aspects of these people's lives.

    The point here isn't that boys and girls are the same, it's that everyone is different, regardless of whether they are boys or girls. And in that sense, they're all the same. In that they're not. But everyone should be treated the same, like they're worthy of dignity and respect. And that's not a fantasy; if it can happen in a coed locker room, we should be able to expect it from a workplace.

  35. Re:Phrasing is the key by squiggleslash · · Score: 4, Interesting

    When saying it to feminists they will repeatedly say "you are a man, it does not count".

    That's odd, because whenever I'm mentioned being sexually assaulted (at 14), I've had sympathy from Feminists (despite me not actually being all that bothered about the incident - it wasn't at the same sexual violence level as rape.) Maybe the people you were talking to weren't Feminists, but assholes?

    --
    You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
  36. Re:Crazy allegations, if true, absolutely insane by jeff4747 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    then it is absolutely wrong to write that "male" employees used the room, because they will have used it together with their female sexual partners. Which makes one suspect that this is not a men-harrassing-women problem, but more generally an entirely inappropriate, sexually-loaded work environment, with both men and women acting out in unprofessional ways.

    The men who used the room did not necessarily have to bring female employees into the room. They could have used it with women who were not employees. And those women could have been acting quite professionally in their particular career.

  37. Re:Toilet by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2, Insightful

    A free society protect's people's freedoms by ensuring that they can work and live a reasonably free life. If you live in a country where no-one will give you a job because of your gender, "voting with your feet" is kinda difficult. You are not very free because you have no money and no opportunity to earn it.

    Freedom isn't just "leave me alone, let people do whatever the hell they like". It's a balance between allowing as much as possible but also protecting people from some harmful behaviour. Even the most ardent libertarian wants a police force, which explains why they have no moved to Somalia.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  38. Re:Definitions matter by cayenne8 · · Score: 2

    If you have sex with more than 1000 partners, are they really all *people* to you?

    Err...not sure what you're talking about here. The article didn't mention beastiality or the like....

    If you're just trying to make some sort of point about the large number (1K)...well, you don't have to be in love with someone to fuck them....sex and love don't have to be combined in order to enjoy the act. Heck, often times, hookups are quite fun and more exciting that just hitting the same thing over and over and over and......

    --
    Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
  39. Re:Seriously simplify your life by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 2

    I thought you hired an HR dept full of pretty women to keep the nerd programmers motivated .......

    That's the marketing department. You hire old ladies for the HR department to keep the young ladies in the marketing department in line. Programmers can stick to their VR.

  40. Re:Hiring practices... by Brett+Buck · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Are you psychotic? All of this is utterly unprofessional behavior, and a big chunk of it is *illegal*. Drugs are still illegal throughout the USA, it's a federal crime. So it this type and degree of sexual harrassment. Anyone who condones this sort of behavior in the workplace is a moron, risks the entire companies' standing, is ripe for a lawsuit (which they will easily win), and overall, a jackass.

          If "people are OK with it" then they should all be fired summarily.

              This is the sort of people we are turning out in this country - morally bankrupt and self-centered.

  41. Re:Phrasing is the key by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 2

    I left a place years ago because the guys were really creepy like that, and I'm a dude.

    I had *one* internship like that where the boss overshared everything about his 'lifestyle' life. I then went to work in corporate America. And while some times it is a bit dry I couldn't imagine that sort of discussion ever coming up. We still find plenty of non-work stuff to talk about. I talked a co-worker into trying Linux.

    But I'm not the type of guy to sit around and 'bro' out about what I do behind closed doors, let alone "Hey, you know what sounds like a good idea? Consuming drugs on the job".

    It sounds like these guys had a good idea in college and were never forced to grow up. There are plenty of times and places to discuss what ever you want. While trying to get work done isn't one of them.

  42. Re:Phrasing is the key by smallfries · · Score: 4, Funny

    Otherwise, I can't see any heterosexual sexual assault, I mean, a chick can't rape a man.

    Reading this remind me of some invaluable advice that I once heard : never go full retard. Maybe it is useful to you too?

    --
    Slashdot: where don knuth is an idiot because he cant grasp the awesome power of php
  43. As a male adult by AntronArgaiv · · Score: 2

    If I had found myself working in a company full of "bros" like this, I would be looking for a way out.

    But then, I'm over 50. Way over 50. The testosterone poisoning has abated. But I do have a daughter, and
    seeing women treated like that would probably cause me to drop a dime.

    1. Re: As a male adult by Kurrelgyre · · Score: 3, Funny

      Calling in an anonymous tip to legal authorities, like from a phone booth, which at one time charged 10 cents to make local calls.

      To you kids out there, phone booths were public booths with landlines you could pay to make calls from.

      To you babies out there, phone calls are how you used to talk to people using only your voice. No video, no text, and you had to dial a specific number to reach them.

  44. Re:Phrasing is the key by coinreturn · · Score: 2

    Masturbating on company time is just over the top.

    I disagree; it's another bodily function that can be handled in private. However, telling someone you're doing it IS over the line.

  45. Re:Hiring practices... by stealth_finger · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I don't find your interest reprehensible. I find it reprehensible that this happened in a company setting.

    I'm sorry but if you can talk about the game on the weekend or this funny youtube vid you saw you should be able to talk about sex. Just because a large population cringe up whenever they hear the word and like to pretend its a dirty disgusting thing they would never do doesn't make it more or less a legitimate thing to talk about. Obviously if someone doesn't want to talk about something you shouldn't force it on them but you also shouldn't let someone take a topic off the table because they don't like it. People need thicker skins than running to HR whenever they overhear something they don't like.

    Personal anecdote, a couple women in an office I worked in were well into books, fair enough, but the books they enjoyed were basically biographies of kids that had been abused and basically been through some of the most horrible shit you can imagine. Still a legit thing to write about, no arguments there, but they would openly talk about the graphic content of these books to each other, not forcing anyone else in or anything but other people could definitely hear them. No one really liked overhearing it but no one would dream of telling them not to talk about whatever they wanted. The only real rule was no swearing infront of clients and they never did.

    Unless you are going to white list some topics for the workplace and everything else is no go then you can't really tell people to talk to each other according to your sensibilities.

    Even if you are disgusted by it and only put up with it to keep your job and get promoted then good, well done, you've become an adult and might find getting on in this world a bit easier.

    Furthermore, should women be treated sensitively and protected from things men think they might not like or should they actually be treated equally and expected to deal with it?

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  46. Re:Hiring practices... by SirSlud · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm sorry but if you can talk about the game on the weekend or this funny youtube vid you saw you should be able to talk about sex. Just because a large population cringe up whenever they hear the word and like to pretend its a dirty disgusting thing they would never do doesn't make it more or less a legitimate thing to talk about.

    The reason why it's not suitable to talk about in a work environment is because it makes most people feel uncomfortable. This isn't complicated. Get into the reasons why it's jusfied or not, but if the question is how to maintain a non hostile working environment, not permitting people to discuss things that make a large percent of the population cringe up is kind of obvious.

    Incidentally, I don't mind talking about sex, but I sure as shit don't want to talk about you having sex, so in return, I won't talk about *me* having sex. This is not complicated stuff.

    Unless you are going to white list some topics for the workplace and everything else is no go then you can't really tell people to talk to each other according to your sensibilities.

    No, some topics are blacklisted around the office, because there are not that many that make for a hostile work environment. You're doing a lot of mental gymnastics to excuse some reasonable limits on behavior that the majority of the population agrees with.

    --
    "Old man yells at systemd"
  47. Re:Phrasing is the key by smallfries · · Score: 2

    How weak are the weakest men / strong are the strongest women?

    Do you have conscious control over your boner? Interesting trick, maybe you could share it with the rest of the world who have certainly experienced a non-controlled boner at some point.

    Remember: not *full* retard.

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  48. Re:You know how you can tell the allegations are B by wisnoskij · · Score: 2

    I am pretty sure California actually has laws to criminalize stuff like that.

    --
    Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
  49. Re:VC Round by Thelasko · · Score: 2

    John McAfee- The Charlie Sheen of Silicon Valley.

    --
    One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
  50. Re:Hiring practices... by letthelightin · · Score: 2

    Talking about your private sexual exploits is essentially social ego masturbation.

    Keep it to yourself if you really need to dwell on that to stroke your ego.

  51. Re:Hiring practices... by Phusion · · Score: 2

    Microdosing is indeed, commonly the practice of taking small amounts of LSD, but also extends to other drugs. I believe the typical micro-dose is about 25ug or 25 micrograms. The typical hit of LSD is about 75-100mcg, and everyone is different, so you're right, it may take some "adjustments" to figure out the right dose. I think 15-25mcg is perfect, you don't really feel the effects of under 50mcg.

    --
    640k ought to be enough for anyone.
  52. Is this just a Silicon Valley thing? by mtmiller100 · · Score: 2

    I've been in Corporate America (IT, specifically) for 15 years now, and I've never seen anything remotely close to the kind of behavior being described here (or at Uber). Is this just a Silicon Valley thing? Or just a "these two companies" thing? I can't grasp how this kind of behavior goes unchecked for so long.

  53. Re:Phrasing is the key by Cederic · · Score: 2

    I'll just drop this in here and hope you educate yourself.
    http://www.popsci.com/science/...

  54. Re:Hiring practices... by Ambassador+Kosh · · Score: 2

    You can choose what you say and you can't choose what you are.

    This is really very simple and based on fairly simple human decency. Work is a place for getting work done. You can talk about off-topic things at times so long as it does not interfere with the work. There are some subjects that most of us know makes other uncomfortable and so we avoid them while at work. One of the examples giving in this thread is two women talking about abused children in a book and I would also say that is not appropriate for work.

    There are many topics that are pretty safe to discuss and don't cause others to feel uncomfortable. I am not talking about safe spaces or any of that other stuff that keeps being brought up. These are people you have to work with every day and often need to work with them for years. Making them uncomfortable is just going to harm your working relationship and directly make your life worse long term.

    In the end show some basic professionalism and decency towards others. If it is so horrible for you to control yourself then maybe you need some help.

    --
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  55. Re:Hiring practices... by HornWumpus · · Score: 4, Informative

    Kids these days (75-100mcg??)...when I was a kid, a tab had 250 micrograms or we wanted our money back.

    I'm told, in the 1960s a typical dose was 1000 micrograms.

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  56. Re:Phrasing is the key by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Well, I"m serious. How can a woman forcibly rape a man? If he's not wanting to, he ain't getting hard...and if he is hard, well, you can't rape the willing, you know?

    Your questions are similar to asking "If she didn't want it, then why didn't she scream?" Someone doesn't have to be literally tied down and screaming for sex to be non consensual. Tonic immobility is a common involuntary response, for example. Being drunk or drugged is a common situation. An erection as an involuntary response to fear, stress, or anger is common. A blowjob, handjob, or grinding don't even require an erection. Feeling coerced, confused, and vaguely threatened by the situation and unsure of how to stop it or whether stopping it would be dangerous is extremely common. Imagine anyone feeling powerless in these various ways in a sexual situation, and you should be able to understand how it's definitely possible for a man to be raped by a woman. Also, remember that the specific situation you're discussing is about a 10 year old boy; would you have expected him to have whatever response you expect from a grown man?

  57. Re:Toilet by fluffernutter · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Well, I'm assuming you are American. This is why most people have a lousy opinion of the average American. You can apply your right to free speech all you want. Insult Cubans once they let you into their country, etc. Just don't be shocked when most of the world is repulsed by you, because you don't understand anything about respecting the people around you.

    --
    Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
  58. Re:Hiring practices... by radarskiy · · Score: 2

    " you should be able to talk about sex"

    It's not a question of being able to talk about sex, it's being forced to listen to talk about something not related to the job while trying to perform the job.

    Your sex talk has nothing to do with my job, why should I be required to expend the effort to withstand your distraction?

  59. Re:Hiring practices... by drinkypoo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm sorry but if you can talk about the game on the weekend or this funny youtube vid you saw you should be able to talk about sex.

    I'm sorry, but your comment contains no logic whatsoever. You're claiming that because A and B are true, that C must be true, without showing any associative link between A and B or C. Perhaps someone can pop up to tell us which logical fallacy that is, but it's not even a very good one.

    Furthermore, should women be treated sensitively and protected from things men think they might not like or should they actually be treated equally and expected to deal with it?

    Expecting them to deal with subject matter they find threatening in the workplace is not equality. Women are really and actually subjected to sexual inequality and sexual abuse on a regular basis, which is why anyone who actually cares about other people's feelings and who has two neurons to rub together understands that it's not appropriate to create a sexually charged environment in the workplace.

    --
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