For the rest of us who have no special value, keep your head down, don’t make waves, and carry something in your hand where ever you go. Like a file.
22 Likes
Yeah, except the last time I visited a prison holding a file it did NOT go well
20 Likes
The man is a monster. Totaly labor unfriendly and a glory grabbing POS.I’m tired of cult of personality and the syncophants that glom around this shit heel. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/18/tesla-workers-factory-conditions-elon-musk
24 Likes
I feel like the appropriate way to handle something like this is with considerably more respect for your employees. If you find out you don’t need someone who’s been working for you for twelve years then after you kick yourself for being unobservant and inefficient, you offer them some sort of promotion, at least on a trial basis, a stronger role, more duties, etc. Apparently Musk offered her a new position, but not before, as I read this story, he essentially insulted her, devalued her years of service, and punished her for requesting reasonable compensation for service. So yeah, kind of a huge dick it sounds like, at least if this story’s on the level.
37 Likes
Assuming you mean legal obligations, the short answer is “no” and the long answer is some variant of “no, but he may have [x, y, z] responsibilities if he chooses to terminate their employment (noting that we can reasonably assume he lived up to any such obligations)”.
If you mean moral obligations then I think we have a strong divide between a ruling class that trades on false rationality to support the concentration of wealth who would say “no”, and the majority of people who intuit the answer is “yes”. Not coincidentally we presumably have Musk who would say “no”, business insider who would say “no”, and an employee who we might guess thought “yes” based on her refusal to come back and work for Musk in another job.
15 Likes
There always is.
For every article about any treachery, miscarriages of justice, or just basic shitty human behavior there will always be a handful of people defending the despicable.
Part of it is apathy; our society has long since been training us not to give a damn, unless we ourselves are personally, negatively impacted.
30 Likes
Over on Gawker, that post about the jogger who shoved the woman in front of a bus has people claiming she tries to trip him so it was “self-defense”.
16 Likes
Which elements do you see in this story?
I agree. Musk obviously doesn’t know Ricardo’s Law of Comparative Advantage, which is worrying in someone who plans to try to operate a volume car factory.
The short answer is that unless his time is worth less than hers, he should keep her.
However, I would also make a second point; if she’s really a PA, then her being away for 2 weeks should not make a difference. Everything should be organised at least that far ahead. It’s as his schedule gets further out that things should be expected to go wrong. I can see this with my own scheduling, which nowadays is by phone. I can remember my appointments for the next two weeks…beyond that it’s cloudy. Unless Musk functions in a vacuum, during the two weeks she was away little things probably started to go wrong which, unchecked, will turn into major foul-ups. But he won’t know that for a while.
Of course it’s easy being an armchair CEO yadda yadda, but Harvard Business School and the like are supposed to teach you this kind of stuff.
35 Likes
All of them?
9 Likes
Not surprising.
Somewhere in the world right now, there’s probably someone justifying or apologizing for something as insidious and indefensible as infant rape.
Monsters exist; and they look just everyone else.
Why do you want to know?
6 Likes
I believe the customary and appropriate comment is “Christ, what an asshole.”
19 Likes
You sir, are a model BoingBoinger. Great answer.
1 Like
Of course, Musk’s businesses are almost all about enormous phallic symbols of one kind or another, there is that.
Rockets, cars with insane acceleration, cylindrical objects being thrust very fast through tubes.
10 Likes
So based on the running commentary, any manager or employer if asked by an associate “I want a raise” is in essence a bad person if they say no?
1 Like
Steve Jobs would have been hailed a genius for doing the same thing.
8 Likes
This looks like pretty good business actually. I mean, he’s made a fantastic example to all his other employees to know their place. I’m sure he can get a new assistant and pay her less, secure in the knowledge that she won’t say anything, least she end up like her predecessor. I mean, maybe it’s better business to not treat your employees like shit, so they’ll perform better due to liking their workplace and allowing them to be fulfilled with your jobs. If you’re going to treat your employees like plastic pens, and just use them until they have nothing left, throw them away, and get another dime store replacement, you might as well do it right.
11 Likes
I think there’s a difference between “Sorry, I can’t give you a raise” and “I decided I don’t need you anymore since you asked.”
39 Likes
Or, “How about you leave for two weeks while I hold it over your head that I am able to fire you, then I fire you?”
39 Likes
How many of Musk’s employees could pass that test? Any organization can get along without just about anyone for two weeks. Otherwise no one could ever take a vacation or sick leave. Musk’s “test” is bullshit, designed to humiliate a loyal employee simply for asking for a raise.
50 Likes
