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First of all, this is not ridiculous (i.e. deserving or inviting derision or mockery). Many of us are under immense pressure to provide for our families in HCOL environments, and love our families more than ourselves. From personal experience, I can say this pressure can make you feel like you have no out -- you must take care of the ones you love or else face them living an extremely hard life. This can easily drive you to feel like there is no other option but keep on working hard to support your loved ones.

Switching jobs is no guarantee you'll escape this spiral, and switching to a lower-paying career would put you in a corner. And therein lies the dilemma -- you can't quit, but you'll die (or be extremely depressed) if you stay.

Additionally, at least in the US, the government does not provide the types of social benefits to augment the pressure of the corporate workplace.

Therefore, corporations (who are often generating millions if not billions in revenue) have a social responsibility to their workers to make sure they are operating in an environment where they feel they can succeed and provide for their families, without compromise for mental health.

I mean that the outrage at Uber for this is what is ridiculous. Maybe not the story, or even the lawsuit (I understand the family seeking compensation for something like this), but the vitriol directed in Uber's direction for this seems more to do with their place as the current evil tech boogeyman more than anything else.

It was his decision to live in a HCOL area, from what I read his family was encouraging him to quit the job and decompress but he refused to listen. My point is that this sounds like a psychologically compromised and severely depressed man who ended up committing suicide. I'm sure a big part of that was because of his job. But I'm not sure that this ipso facto means Uber should be the subject of our ire.

And to be clear, I'm bearish on Uber, and frankly I usually enjoy the Uber schadenfreude that gets posted here recently. I just don't think this particular instance has much merit, it's just more ammo for the Uber = The Devil bandwagon jumpers.

>>> "Before his death, Thomas expressed both to his father and wife that he felt immense pressure and stress to the point where he was scared he would lose his job. In meetings with a psychiatrist, Thomas told the doctor he was experiencing panic attacks, trouble concentrating, and debilitating anxiety. Everyone instructed him to leave his job, but he was adamant that he could not.

“He was always the smartest guy in the room,” said his father, Joe Thomas. But while working at Uber, “he went down the tubes. He became someone with very little confidence in himself. The guy just fell apart.”

His wife added, “It’s hard to explain, but he wasn’t himself at all. He’d say things like, ‘My boss doesn’t like me.’ His personality changed totally; he was horribly concerned about his work, to the point it was almost unbelievable. He was saying he couldn’t do anything right.” "

I think Uber is currently a lightning rod for everything that's wrong with technical employers, especially in the USA. I think there is a great deal of simmering rage against the widespread mistreatment of engineers, and Uber has, in a sense, become the monster that has the villagers getting out their torches and pitchforks.

> but the vitriol directed in Uber's direction for this seems more to do with their place as the current evil tech boogeyman more than anything else.

Other companies have had similar levels of scrutiny after people died by suicide.

I know this doesn't completely address your comment, but the article mentions a Facebook message made by him:

> “The sad thing is this place (Uber) has broken me to the point where I don’t have the strength to look for another job,” Thomas wrote.

Be frugal. Don't buy a house unless you have at least 6 months of payments in the bank. Don't buy a car if you need to take a loan. Save as much you can. Build and maintain a strong network outside work (family/friends/professional contacts).

Every time I got into a difficult situation at work, I take a deep breath and tell myself: "Don't worry, give it your best shot to resolve this. And if that's not good enough, you know you can walk out that door and take a break for some time". It's been working well for me.

It's well-meaning advice, but understand that, in situations like these, certain personality types don't think as rationally as you would expect. One size does not fit all when it comes to handling adversity.

He lived in Pittsburgh about 35-40 miles outside San Francisco. Maybe a hour drive with no traffic 2 with, or a 1.5 hour Bart train ride and I think there's a transfer now so it maybe longer. Anyway he didn't go out and buy a mansion the bay area is so expensive even with his pay he lived far from the city where house prices are only crazy...not insane

There's a lot of truth to this, but if you've never worked this kind of job, you won't be prepared. Working this kind of job is what made me really understand the value of being able to say "FUCK YOU" and quit/not worry about getting fired. It drove me to build savings and now I insist on having no debt and at least $10k in the bank. It also drove me to move to a cheaper city, find a cheap apartment there, etc. $10k isn't a huge amount to some of you, but it's enough to pay the bills through a decent job search if your fixed expenses are low. Once I paid off debts and had that buffer, my soul-sucking horrible job seemed way better since I no longer feared being fired. It even allowed me to quit that job abruptly and enjoy life for a few weeks before going back to work.

We're pretty smart in some ways, but too many of us live essentially paycheck-to-paycheck. In an industry where jobs aren't hard to come by, and the pay's pretty good, it's easy to fall into that trap. If you're doing this, stop! Do whatever it takes to break the cycle. Sell your car. Sell your unnecessary stuff if that helps to start saving. Stop acting as if your future paychecks are guaranteed. You have no idea what a weight off your shoulders it is to not fear losing your job.

Depression is not entirely genetic / psychological. Environment (and stress) can and frequently does play a role.

If an employer creates an environment which is likely to be detrimental to their employees' mental health, shouldn't they be liable?

I haven't made up my own mind on this to be honest, and could probably argue both sides, but I think it deserves to be thought about instead of dismissed out of hand.

Easy to say this from where you are. I was of that opinion too.

For some, it can be like a abusive personal relationship. They are so invested in this that all they can think of is to make it alright; divorce or separation is not an option. Some people just get up and go while some others want to stay and try to work things out.

This. Other comments amplify this point.

> an incident like this shouldn't be alarming and merit internal investigation and rethinking of cultural norms. Sure, and I'm sure they did that.

...because if there's any employer who history has shown would undertake a thorough internal investigation and rethinking of culture in response to employee issues it's Uber.

But I don't think it's a good precedent for an employer to be held responsible every time an employee self-harms.

Why not? What is there to gain by employers not having a duty to look after the mental health of their employees?

Well there could be a strong disincentive to hire people who may be at risk, resulting in worse employment outcomes for some kinds of people. Also, more intrusive questioning for everyone at interview.

Then there's the question of fairness. Why should an employer be held accountable if they were not actually contributing to the problem by any reasonable definition.

The more that costs of regular employment increase, the more we will see stratified employment. Employers will substitute contract, offshore or just not hire to avoid those costs.

Read my comment elsewhere in this article; it might give you a different perspective.