So to preface, I do not condone adultery / office affairs, etc.

But in the big picture, isn't it crazy that a relationship between two consenting adults is a bigger deal, and of larger impact to the economy, than an action that is supposedly unlawful and threatened national security?

▲ gorbachev a day ago | parent | next [-]

It's against pretty much every company policy to have a relationship with someone who reports to you.

All 42,000 employees should be held to the same standard, otherwise you will end up with all kinds of problems within the company.

Company leadership should lead by example as well.

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ramblurr a day ago | parent | next [-]

Right, and to make it explicit for some people following along who are wondering why companies have that policy... It's to prevent predatory and abuses of power. There's a power imbalance that can easily lead to exploitation.

	▲	order-matters a day ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Adding on to that clarification: The leverage the boss has over the employee creates a rational pressure for the employee to ignore any boundary they might have otherwise had in order to avoid any chance of the boss using that leverage against them.
	▲	Vegenoid a day ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		The reason companies care about this so much is more practical than moral. Bosses having sexual/romantic relationships with employees leads to irrational decisions that are bad for the business.

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x0x0 a day ago | parent | prev [-]

Because it's likely sexual harassment. In two ways:

1 - did she feel pressured to have a relationship with him? It's hard to have genuinely free consent when he can make or break her career; and

2 - sexual discrimination towards every other employee. Did she get benefits from the relationship? It's more than fair for the rest of the employees to wonder if they'd also been eg sucking his dick if they would have gotten better raises, faster promotions, etc.

▲ dotancohen a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

  > isn't it crazy that a relationship between two consenting adults is a bigger deal, and of larger impact to the economy, than an action that is supposedly unlawful and threatened national security?

The issue with workplace relationships with subordinates is that the degree of consent is often not clear.

▲ blobbers a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

In the current state of consent, a subordinate cannot give free consent.

All of them are big deals, but being deceived by a spy isn't the same as choosing to break an important rule.

▲ bigstrat2003 a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

First, his actions were alleged to have impact on national security, but that is not for sure. It is for sure that he was acting inappropriately as a boss, though. Second, I suspect that it is both events which led to his firing. If the affair with the subordinate had come out first, and then the affair with the alleged spy, I suspect he still would've been given grace for the first but not the second event.

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kergonath a day ago | parent [-]

> Second, I suspect that it is both events which led to his firing.

Plus possible other events known to the board but not us. We’ll know eventually.

	▲	lazide a day ago \| parent [-]
		Not necessarily. Once I worked at a company where the sales VP got caught embezzling by setting up (large amounts of) fake affiliates. It boosted the overall revenue numbers, and I think they were impressed at how long he had gotten away with it, so they let him be ‘stolen’ by a competitor (who didn’t know the circumstances) while they swept it under the rug. Easy 8 figures of revenue impact per year. Pretty ingeniously evil, IMO.

▲ naniwaduni a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

We established 28 years ago that it's not considered a big deal. The real story is somewhere else.

▲ unwise-exe a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

It's not the affair, exactly. It's that he violated HR policy (which incidentally was by way of having that affair).

▲ DesaiAshu a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

It's about lying. The proper procedure is to disclose consenting relationships with a subordinate so that HR and the board is aware of conflicts of interest

If an exec is lying about this, what else might they be lying about? Embezzlement? Corruption?

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avazhi a day ago | parent [-]

You’re right, because failing to disclose who you’re fucking is definitely at the same intellectual and moral level as embezzlement and corruption.

This batshit insane decision by the board is a timely reminder that prudes inexplicably truly do continue to thrive among us.

Nobody on the planet is better off with this guy resigning.

	▲	robotresearcher a day ago \| parent \| next [-]
		It’s a kind of corruption; specifically that the senior may have coerced the junior. And once it’s done, the junior can blackmail the senior. Since you can’t reliably determine that it was all mutually agreeable, you have to rule it out by policy. Same as emoluments.
	▲	saidnooneever a day ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		you make it sound like hes the only person working at nvidia. he did good things but the company will continue to do good things as countless talented individuals make up the company.

▲ codedokode a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

This exposes the true personality and that the person is a liar and betrays those who trust him. Now think, does he betray only women or shareholders as well?

▲ jychang a day ago | parent | prev [-]

Nobody cares about the sex, it's about the abuse of power.