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The Quiet Code: How tech silences with severance and fear

Cher on May 29, 2021

Late in the afternoon of May 24, 2021, Tessa Kriesel was informed by her leadership at Fast that the team she was hired to lead, DevRel (Developer ...
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Ben Halpern

I know it's not just Tessa and I.

This is almost by definition. The most vulnerable folks are probably also the most likely to not be in the financial position to do anything but stay quiet, nor are they in the position to fight against power.

It's sad and very great that you are bringing more awareness to this Cher.

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Cher

Thank you so much, Ben. And you are exactly right. The most oppressed can't speak out unless we give them the power to do so with our own privilege. Thank you for speaking up and being supportive.

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Tessa Kriesel

I love you so much for sharing this so I don't have to. We all need to stand up for this behavior. The other people in this email thread should have stood up for me and they didn't. It's disgusting.

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Cher

💞

Really glad I saw this, even if it was a few days later than it happened.

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moose

i think about how many people died around me in the infantry. I'm going to save this article because I want to show it to young kids thinking about enlisting for this country because I want to make sure they know exactly what they are risking everything for. This.

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𒎏Wii 🏳️‍⚧️

That's an interesting way to look at it

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moose

Spending years volunteering in everything from front line combat to homeless shelters and food shelfs to see your home slow burn into the night will show you how hollow your youth really was.
Then you’re just left with disassociation.
And everytime you try again to integrate and try again, you’ll read this authors hard fought sentiment in ubiquity and your stomach drops and you’ll feel how heavy that check you cashed was.

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HS

Honestly, these emails to looked more others trying to push her away because she's probably making them work. Not discrimatory at all, just mostly pushing her away ten trying to avoid exactly this, people saying how company X did this to women. I'm actually happy about people pointing out to shoosh money because problems should mot be swiped under the rug and yes in many ways women have been looked down to in IT and other fields but I'm seeing a lot of unfairness in purusue of justice at a workplace

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Kristin Galvin

Thank you for sharing. Glad to know I'm not alone!

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Tessa Kriesel

That breaks my heart. Reach out anytime.

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Jesse Phillips • Edited

I'm not a lawyer, but I don't think that in the USA a company can have you sign away your right to sue for discriminatory behavior.

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Cher

The onus is on the employee to prove discrimination, and usually through forced arbitration first.

consumeradvocates.org/for-consumer....

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𒎏Wii 🏳️‍⚧️

They can have you sign it, and hope you never question whether that actually means anything. Because most likely, it doesn't.

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Nick Karnik

Sorry to hear about what happened. Both of you are very brave to speak about your experiences. I have gone through stuff over the past 20 years that I've never had the courage to speak about openly.

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𒎏Wii 🏳️‍⚧️

I don't quite get the whole "Sign this or leave" thing; was it not an option to say "No. Fire me or I stay."? Would that have negatively affected your chances of finding a new job in some way?

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