Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Monday July 24 2017, @01:13PM   Printer-friendly
from the no-bad-news-must-be-good-news...-right? dept.

Last October, AngelList, a company that helps tech start-ups raise money and hire employees, held an office retreat. In the Hollywood Hills, far from Silicon Valley, the firm's mostly male staff mingled poolside with bikini-clad women who had been invited to the event.

Before the afternoon was over, Babak Nivi, a founder and board member at AngelList, said things that made Julie Ruvolo, a contractor, uncomfortable about working at the company. His comments included a suggestion that the women, who were not employees, warm up the pool by jumping in and rubbing their bodies together. The incident was described by two entrepreneurs who were told about it in the weeks after it occurred but were not authorized to speak about it.

Precisely what occurred at the Hollywood Hills event and the details of the agreement are not publicly known. Several weeks after the party, each side signed a nondisparagement clause as part of a settlement, the two people said. And neither Ms. Ruvolo nor AngelList are permitted to talk about what happened that day.

As more harassment allegations come to light, employment lawyers say nondisparagement agreements have helped enable a culture of secrecy. In particular, the tech start-up world has been roiled by accounts of workplace sexual harassment, and nondisparagement clauses have played a significant role in keeping those accusations secret. Harassers move on and harass again. Women have no way of knowing their history. Nor do future employers or business partners.

Source: http://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/21/abuses-hide-in-the-silence-of-non-disparagement-agreements.html

Related: Silicon Valley Women Frankly Describe Sexual Harassment


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 24 2017, @07:23PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 24 2017, @07:23PM (#543853)

    > ... in the real world, gender change always happens because of a courageous person exercising their free will and right of “my body, my choice.”

    Probably true now in most of the world, but my understanding is that historically eunuchs didn't have a lot of choice in the matter. For just one example, the king wanted to keep his boy's choir working well up in the high registers...

    Starting Score:    0  points
    Moderation   +1  
       Informative=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Informative' Modifier   0  

    Total Score:   1  
  • (Score: 1) by kurenai.tsubasa on Monday July 24 2017, @08:34PM

    by kurenai.tsubasa (5227) on Monday July 24 2017, @08:34PM (#543869) Journal

    Good point. I was being rhetorical rather than strictly accurate. Another real world situation where gender change is forced upon somebody is homosexuality. Alan Turing comes to mind. While as I understand it the UK government did not force him through an entire process that would qualitatively look like gender transition, he was forcefully medicated with estrogen. I believe in Iran the choice for homosexuals is to undergo a process that would qualitatively look like gender transition or undergo public stoning. (On the bright side, Iran will pick up 50% of the tab on the sex change! Only San Francisco has a better deal on free sex changes! Buy one get one! All inventory must go to make room for new 2018 vaginas!)