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Comment by riebschlager | Hacker News Reader

Bob Porter : I looked into it more deeply and I found that apparently what happened is that he was laid off five years ago and no one ever told him about it; but through some kind of glitch in the payroll department, he still gets a paycheck.

Bob Slydell : So we just went ahead and fixed the glitch.

Bill Lumbergh : Great.

Dom Portwood : So, uh, Milton has been let go?

Bob Slydell : Well, just a second there, professor. We, uh, we fixed the glitch. So he won't be receiving a paycheck anymore, so it'll just work itself out naturally.

Bob Porter : We always like to avoid confrontation, whenever possible. Problem is solved from your end.

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When I was younger I laughed assuming it was a comedy

Now I laugh to keep from crying because I realize it's a documentary.

I would love to work in a cubicle farm like that vs. an open office any day though.

After relocating from the US to Scandinavia, people here are always give me crap for having worked in a cubicle farm. And I always tell them I'd go back to that layout in a second compared the open landscape nightmare we have everywhere here.

Especially cause he faced the entrance to his cubicle with his face, not his back.

Yeah open plan offices is like someone looked at cubicles and said "they are not miserable enough, we need to change something"

Yeah, after just watching the matrix, cube farms are necessary for running away from ai agents.

I remember in the early 00's seeing blogs or cartoons where they would complain and call it their "gray, 4-walled prison cell". Well, that cell is a lot more dignified than today's open-office hot-desking that would be akin to an impoverished country's prison!

While it was a really funny scene in the movie, I always assumed that on top of being cruel this seems like a dangerous way to handle the issue. Looks like a pretty easy wrongful termination lawsuit here. Especially if Milton keeps showing up for work and doesn't get paid for it.

It doesn't work out well for the company in the end in the movie either.

Works out great for milton though.

Gee, thanks a Milton

I dunno, he asked for a Mai Tai and they brought him a Piña Colada. And he said no salt on his margarita, but it had salt on it.

Sounds like people still don’t listen to him, poor Milton.

Since we're on this tangent anyway, can I just give a shout out to that actor, Stephen Root?

It's amazing to see the contrast between Milton and his other characters.

I was absolutely floored when I realized Fuches and Milton are the same guy. Terrific actor!

Wrongful termination generally requires either discrimination based on protected class or retaliation for reporting (discrimination / injury / safety).

You generally can’t sue your employer for being an unfair asshole.

You can definitely sue them for not telling you that you're fired, and then not paying you for the work you do.

The protagonist (and presumably Milton) has 8 different bosses.

Even if doing this would result in a lawsuit against the company, it's unlikely to impact those middle-managers personally.

Which is a key takeaway from the movie, it consistently shows apathy at every level.

Bullshit jobs before they were labeled Bullshit jobs.

I immediately had the same thought. „We fixed the glitch!“

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