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Comment by jtchang | Hacker News Reader

Thank you for posting this. As a community of entrepreneurs and hackers it helps all of us know what happens behind the scenes. Some people may view it as airing their dirty laundry but I see it as a way to keep people honest.

The fact that you dropped the production database sucks. However you stayed around and fixed it. I can't really say anything more. My bet is we all handle lots of sensitive data around here. Our worst nightmare is to drop that data by accident. Stuff happens...fix it and move on.

I understand we are a litigious society but if your knee jerk reaction is to bring in lawyers something is wrong. My hope is this post will make it around to Somrat and Tim (I've never met either of them) and you two will resolve it amicably. Maybe I am delusional but good character still counts for something.

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Based on the post, it doesn't sound like he stuck around and fixed it.

To set the record straight I stuck around to fix it.

What did you end up doing in the end once you made the mistake? As in, what did you do to help?

Unless you're just generally curious of the company's internal process the details of his action/inaction to resolve a DB issue are completely unrelated to the dispute on wage.

Irrelevant, and completely inappropriate for you to ask. The article writer disclosed that something bad happened for which he is to blame, which is a good thing ethically. He has no duty to tell a complete stranger what happened. Not only that, if he does then he may disclose confidential information.

Bottom line: don't answer this question.

I disagree. Handling things professionally and keeping people honest are two different things.

There is no "service to the SV community" that this guy is doing by airing dirty laundry. If you've been wronged by your former company, handle it on your own. Shaming the company is not going to help you, the company, or anyone else. What you're effectively suggesting is that your "service" is to warn everyone to stay away from Miso.

Unfortunately, as a hiring manager, I'm going to stay away from you. While I wholeheartedly agree that you should have gotten your $10K referral bonus, I also believe it should have been while you were still an employee there. Once you leave, you're not entitled to anything more from the company.

> Once you leave, you're not entitled to anything more from the company.

Can you explain how this works, exactly? How does quitting one's job wipe clean any debt from the company to the now-former employee? Can they refuse to send him his last paycheck too?

No they cannot refuse to send him his last paycheck.

I can't speak for the paperwork involved when leaving Miso, but most companies make you sign an agreement (often in the exit interview) that you are not entitled to/owed anything more than X, Y, Z items that are explicitly stated (which usually included the last paycheck and any unpaid vacation days).

Huh. Why would anyone sign such a thing?

Usual practice in most companies. It protects them from exactly these sorts of things.

Most companies that have this agreement in place also have a similar agreement when joining the company that if you forego signing the exit agreement, you forego any outstanding debts owed to you by the company.

Can an agreement signed when you start working really erase debt from agreement made after you started working? Seems like the second one would take precedence there.

There's also the question of labor laws. I bet this is considered wages under the law and probably impossible to sign away.

So, basically, the company can dictate the exact debts in its exit agreement? And if you disagree, you forego all claims anyway?

This sounds a bit illogical, but I'm not a lawyer. Another poster said it wasn't the practice at all in his years of experience, so maybe your experience does not generalize well.

You're also making an assumption that such a contract was made in this case - and it clearly wasn't, since the Miso people acknowledged their mistake here. So the guy absolutely deserves the bonus payout, even if he didn't submit the administrative form to claim it while he was still there.

Funny how everybody on the employer's side likes to grab hypothetical agreements and contracts out of thin air.

I argue that if he didn't do it -- it would be a dis-service to the community. I look at it like if it were simple assault involving you and an assailant. Since you were not really injured you decide not to press charges against them.

Let's say the assailant does this again in the future -- hurting somebody marginally. And they do press charges.

To the court this looks like a first offense and they let the assailant off gently.

Now suppose the assailant attacks again and this time causes significant injuries.

Had you originally reported your attack, then it is reasonable that the court would see a second minor attack more seriously and could bring more severe charges, deterring the assailant from subsequent assaults and improving the not only the assailant's life, but also the community (as a whole).

This is a specific instance of the more data a deciding entity has, the better chances their making the right choice.

I agree with your central theme that more data is better. That's why as I suggested, he should have handled it on his own and taken legal action against them, so that there was a clear legal record of such behavior by Miso.

Whether or not he should have taken legal action against them, the important thing is to get the data out on a wide public forum like HN. Information benefits us when it's widely distributed, not when it's only confined to a private lawsuit.

Wow this is a super horrible post.

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