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Comment by tmotwu | Hacker News Reader

1. https://twitter.com/timnitGebru/status/1334877710477385728

2. How was LeCun harmed? As far as I'm concerned, he accepted the feedback. And just so we're clear on what happened then - Gebru was only one of many with qualifications who were aggressively critical because of his abdication of research responsibilities. I don't know why you're so focused on Gebru in particular.

3. Yes, if this was about performance, her direct manager who oversees 300 people would know.

4. So yes, glad to see we agree higher ups, who she likely has little to no interaction with to supposedly be exhausted of her behaviors, stepped in to get rid of her.

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1. Again, Managers are not the only person nor do they have to wait for someone’s direct manager to fire someone. If someone’s behavior is not acceptable, anyone authorized person in the company can fire them. Your link is irrelevant to facts.

2. Do you really think lecun wouldn’t have left Twitter if he didn’t find that conversation enjoyable? Do you discount the many other people who found her interactions with lecun horrible? Did any of the other people behave as arrogantly towards lecun as she did? Again, no point made.

3. See 1

4. See 1

So, you can either stop ignoring the fact that her own behavior led to this, or you can continue to think many other respected people in the industry who act way more professionally than her are just against her because they don’t support her views or think google is racist.

That’s not the point. Being removed by executives you rarely interact with because they want you to retract a paper is extremely suspicious. And the community has responded with disappointment.

You are the only person postulating the intention of her firing. I am merely calling out your assumptions because the consensus from the entire community involved has declared otherwise.

Most other people who found her refutations horrible are outsiders who don’t fully grasp the topic LeCun and Gebru and everyone else was alluding to.

Who are the respected in the industry that are against her? Not even LeCun, who has said he thinks her work is important. Nothing in your post has facts at all.

Again, you are assuming that this incident was the only thing that led to her firing. If she behaves like this in public, how does she behave and interact with individuals inside the company? It doesnt matter if she interacts with senior management. If I saw someone i never interacted with harass someone, as a manager, should I just let her direct manager deal with it? Absolutely not. HR would fire that person if it was deemed against expected management behaviour. Google even explicitly stated that she was fired for unexpected management behavior.

You dont have to grasp a topic to know if someone is debating respectfully. I dont have to be a doctor to know that the person is an asshole if they act like an asshole towards me.

I think lets just agree to disagree. Focus on the behavior. Not what she is writing about in her papers. And imaging someone acted like that towards you in a workplace. Imagine you are a CEO or a manager and someone comes to you and says 'Do x y or z otherwise im leaving'. Id be like wtf, sure, if thats how you deal with disagreements, cya'. Everyone is replaceable especially toxic people.

I am only working with what has been corroborated by Google, her teammates, and Dean. There has been no indication whatsoever, thus far, by any account - anonymous or not - of her interactions OR behaviors being problematic in any sense with any single individual. Now, you have gone as far as making up imaginary hypotheticals and blatant accusations - that not a single person has made - of harassment. You are not a person who argues facts - only personal biases and feelings about how you perceive a twitter conversation went down - one that peacefully discontinued.

How can you objectively comment on her behavior if you have never interacted with the person ever?

This has been discussed in prior threads. A manager is well within his rights to act upon his decisions emotionally. Employees are well within their rights to express concern. If I work in a workplace with severe safety issues, I would most definitely demand an ultimatum for my personal occupational security. Managers DO NOT impulsively fire individuals unless they are mentally unable to navigate through a conflict. It's far more nuanced than that.

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