The current chief of the Australian army has a great line on this.

"The standard you walk past is the standard you accept. that goes for all of us, but especially those, who by their rank, have a leadership role."

His silence here is assent. He'd rather we not recognize it as such, and I feel bad for him because I think he'd rather not recognize it as such either. But Graham's own writing spells out what makes his relationship with Thiel different than that of a relationship between employers and employees. If he can discriminate against mothers with young children, he cannot claim that the unfairness of discrimination prevents him from severing ties with Thiel.