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Comment by babycake | Hacker News Reader

Employers have deep pockets. They'll win over your legal counsel by dragging it out for years, making you bankrupt.

At least by exposing it publicly, the company is now forced to address the issue in front of... well everyone. And, other people can see if they've been screwed over as well. After decades and decades of employees trying to resolve matters internally and quietly, and just getting retribution, does anyone actually think being quiet is still the way to go?

I mean, that's how #metoo got started, by going public and getting people together to push back on corporate BS. Same applies here, and for all corporate issues.

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> the company is now forced to address the issue in front of... well everyone.

No they don't. They'll just release a statement saying "to protect employee privacy, we don't comment on any employee's situation, but we will say that we are committed to treating our employees well and blah blah blah". It'll blow over after a few months, and everyone will forget it.

I’ve never sued an employer, but I have commenced legal action against my deep-pocketed landlord (they were a developer and didn’t feel like following the eviction & compensation laws for doing a rental apartment to condo conversion). I won, without even needing a lawyer.

Companies in general don't care about winning. They just care about costs as well as focus. What would they gain in return for years of legal bills?

They get to continue suppressing current and future employees.

Here's a perfect illustration: You know that recent article that came out about Google not paying their temp employees fairly? Well were you aware of that problem before that article came out? If not, apparently full time Google employees weren't either and are now organizing to fix that.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/sep/15/google-un...

It's win-win for employees to go public.

Every time I read these google employees are going on strike / organizing I which they would describe HOW MANY actual google employees are ACTUALLY going on strike and organizing or whatever.

You can talk to a lawyer or a HR professional and not make it a battle with your employer (or even known by them). You'll just get perspective and learn if your position is valid or not. Better to know the law and your options before you negotiate. Had the writer know what was legally owed to him, he may have taken a more productive path.

Doesn't #metoo prove the system is pretty badly broken?

Maybe for people of privilege this plan works. But it's at the expense of others without.

Good point. I think #meetoo showed that internal corporate oversight failed miserably for women. A lot of women were done wrong by many companies and I'm glad their struggle became known and I'm glad things have changed (but still more change is needed).

This situation is a dispute over compensation (PTO), not an accusation of abuse. I stand by my premise that the best way to help his wife would be to further negotiate with Atlassian for unpaid time off w/med benefits or something similar.

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