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Comment by stavros | Hacker News Reader

Companies are made of people. Companies only use people if the people who make up the companies are ok with it. Being a decisionmaker in a company doesn't give you carte blanche to behave like an amoral automaton.

So no, MongoDB are assholes for doing this. They could have had some humanity and prioritized human well-being over cost savings.

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I did not say MongoDB weren’t being assholes here. I’m saying asshole behavior is the norm and should be expected. I have an excellent boss (and his boss is fantastically supportive too). Several coworkers have needed leave for sometimes weeks and they have accommodated them. I don’t expect this is the norm or written in our company policies.

I disagree, if you expect asshole behaviour, you make it the norm. Expect the behaviour you want, and complain when the standard isn't met. That's how you raise the bar.

That may work where you live, but as a small cog in a big wheel in the USA, profit over people is the rule, not the exception.

It works in the US too. Workplace organizing is at its highest rate in decades right now. I’m not saying it’s easy but it will only continue to be a rule if it is never challenged.

Workplace organization...for tech workers? I haven't seen it.

Groups of people don’t act with the same ethics as individuals.

Yes, companies are made of people, but behave differently than people.

Yes, this is the justification decisionmakers use to shirk moral responsibility for their decisions.

Individual Corporate Humanism

It exists some places!

I definitely wouldn’t bet my life on it existing in a random company.

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