Remix.run Logo
Invictus0 12 hours ago

she agreed to it to get a severance payment

ceejayoz 12 hours ago | parent | next [-]

That should be illegal, too. Or the permissible scope of such an agreement heavily limited.

thejazzman 12 hours ago | parent | next [-]

“Sign this or starve” isn’t much of a stretch when you think about it

0x3f 12 hours ago | parent | next [-]

As if Meta employees live on the cusp of starving.

ceejayoz 12 hours ago | parent [-]

https://www.npr.org/2020/05/12/854998616/in-settlement-faceb...

> Some of the content moderators were earning $28,800 a year, the technology news site The Verge found last year.

In this particular case, the legal costs are probably pretty ruinous.

0x3f 12 hours ago | parent [-]

I think you'll find the person in question's title is quite far from content moderator.

ceejayoz 11 hours ago | parent [-]

I think you'll find that's why the "in this particular case" line is there.

0x3f 11 hours ago | parent [-]

Nobody forced her to break her contract and thus come up against that. She would have been perfectly fine on the leftovers from ~$500k/y while searching for her next job. The parent makes out like she simply had to get the extra money, lest she starve to death. Which is patently ridiculous.

burnt-resistor 11 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

It's called a Hobson's choice.

0x3f 12 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

[flagged]

ceejayoz 11 hours ago | parent [-]

"Yes, sometimes."

— the law (https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/unconscionability)

0x3f 11 hours ago | parent [-]

[flagged]

ceejayoz 11 hours ago | parent [-]

It's Hacker News, not I'm Thirteen And Just Discovered Anarchism And It Sounds Cool Because Now My Parents Can't Tell Me To Brush My Teeth Before Bed News.

0x3f 11 hours ago | parent [-]

[flagged]

ceejayoz 11 hours ago | parent [-]

Hackers should absolutely oppose unconscionable contracts, yes.

As we should and do oppose unconscionable punishments like jail for marijuana or the current copyright setup. Because they're wrong.

0x3f 11 hours ago | parent [-]

You understand that this is an entirely different form of argument than just linking to statute or case law.

ceejayoz 11 hours ago | parent [-]

I have consistently said "should be illegal", not "is currently illegal".

I'm entirely aware that these sorts of contracts are legal in US law. They should not be.

0x3f 11 hours ago | parent [-]

But your glib response above was just to quote "the law", like this was a sufficient justification. If merely quoting the law is enough, then great, we already justified perfectly the copyright and jailing weed smokers stuff. It's only now that you changed tack to make a different argument, which... I mean I might disagree with or not, but it's not what I took issue with above.

ceejayoz 11 hours ago | parent [-]

> But your glib response above was just to quote "the law", like this was a sufficient justification.

And this is not true for your (false!) cite of "Hacker News"?

At least my quote from the law was accurate.

indymike 11 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I hate seeing this down-voted. It is such an important warning to people here. Severance agreements are pretty strong. Also, be very careful of snap settlement offers.

So many of the greatest tragedies I've seen inflicted on people come from accepting an expedient way to get what is really a small amount of money quickly. So often the drive is paying the rent/mortgage or fear of losing health benefits. If you are in a bad situation and offered a settlement and you really feel like something isn't right please talk to an employment lawyer. Most US States have expedited processes for quickly resolving these cases, and the lawyer can help you a lot when you feel like your only choice is to take the severance.

ppseafield 12 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

She had serious debilitating medical issues from pregnancy where she lost a ton of blood and was in a coma for several days and nearly died. Of course she's going to take her severance to help care for her family given the atrocious state of our healthcare system.