# So you think there's no such thing as employment discrimination? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 1, 2022, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-think-theres-no-such-thing-as-employment-discrimination/965511 "2022-06-01T17:06:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-think-theres-no-such-thing-as-employment-discrimination/965511/43 "2022-06-02T02:55:53Z")
I was thinking the same thing too. If this is indeed how he acted, one also wonders how he treated black interviewees of any gender. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-think-theres-no-such-thing-as-employment-discrimination/965511/44 "2022-06-02T03:10:06Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > Not hard to fathom at all. Someone had to hire the man and let him interview people in the first place. You’d think this whole ‘women should be at home birthing babies’ attitude would stick out like a sore thumb. I recall when I was in college and post-college, hearing all kinds of horror stories from women classmates about on-campus interviews. This was in the 1990s. One would have hoped that people who hold such attitudes would have learned some shame, but, ironically, the internet has emboldened those with shameful views. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-think-theres-no-such-thing-as-employment-discrimination/965511/45 "2022-06-02T03:49:09Z")
I have seen enough to know that sexism is alive and well, and that the sexists are not particularly ashamed or trying to conceal it in any way, but to me the news is that they are so bold as to throw it in the interviewees’ own faces (as opposed to chatting with their ‘bros’, or random people they meet on the bus). But in retrospect I am not surprised (except, I know they have no shame, but aren’t they worried the interview will be secretly recorded, or that it will otherwise come back to haunt them?) ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-think-theres-no-such-thing-as-employment-discrimination/965511/46 "2022-06-02T06:10:58Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > But programming can definitely be done remotely, and it could have been done remotely for pretty much the entire history of the profession. Wait. What? When do you think the profession of programming started? I could only think about doing any programming from home in 1991 when I got my group Unix PCs, and they were a bit underpowered to be practical. I’d been programming for over 20 years by then I was not exactly a pioneer. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-think-theres-no-such-thing-as-employment-discrimination/965511/47 "2022-06-02T10:09:27Z")
The OP’s link also mentions: “…was once married to a Japanese woman named Reina Shyu. They have one son. However, Patrick revealed in 2019 that his partner had unexpectedly taken his 3-year-old child to Tokyo. He stated that money contributed to the steady deterioration of his relationship with his ex-wife.” Also contributing factor is he sounds like a douche bag. Big surprise. You have a guy who comes from a culture known for workaholism and misogyny who comes to the US to work in an industry known for workaholism and misogyny as well as arrogance and greed, often peopled by brilliant, but socially inept and callous nerds. > [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > There’s also a long line of literature and even business school case studies about chronic overwork in Silicon Valley: > > [Silicon Valley Ruined Work Culture Everywhere | WIRED](https://www.wired.com/story/how-silicon-valley-ruined-work-culture/) > > However, there does seem to be a general trend that as a company transitions from its initial form to a larger and more stable enterprise, it appears to gravitate more towards reasonable work hours. While it isn’t nearly as trendy a company as Google or Amazon, Microsoft which was infamous for working its programmers to the bone in the 80s and 90s scores fairly well on work/life issues these days. I think that article is a bit out of date (Feb 2020). Up until COVID it was a pretty accurate description of “hustle culture”. But since COVID, employees got a taste for the freedom of working from home and most don’t want to go back. At the very least, they’ve rejected the idea of constant work. Probably for a number of reasons, not the least is which the Millennials who initially embraced “hustle culture” are entering their 40s and maybe are starting to realize they aren’t going to all be tech billionaires and there’s more to life than having your nose shoved in an iPad 18 hours a day. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-think-theres-no-such-thing-as-employment-discrimination/965511/48 "2022-06-02T13:24:26Z")
Another possibility is that this jerk, who evidently doesn’t care about his reputation, grossly exaggerated or made up this story in order to screw over his former employer, Google. No matter how Google responds, a substantial number of people won’t believe them. Then again, he posted this stuff on social media, so it’s got to be true. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-think-theres-no-such-thing-as-employment-discrimination/965511/49 "2022-06-02T13:41:10Z")
Yeah, the possibility of a high degree of trollery on his part is there. Though showing yourself to be the kind of person would troll _like that_ is pretty adjacent to being the kind of person who would DO that. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-think-theres-no-such-thing-as-employment-discrimination/965511/50 "2022-06-02T13:59:51Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Though showing yourself to be the kind of person would troll _like that_ is pretty adjacent to being the kind of person who would DO that. Yeah, for the most part, only a misogynist (or racist, etc.) thinks it’s funny to “pretend” to be a misogynist (or racist, etc.). ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-think-theres-no-such-thing-as-employment-discrimination/965511/51 "2022-06-02T17:05:12Z")
If _The Internship_ (2013) is to be believed Google had _two_ interviewers present and a whole don’t be sexist PowerPoint in the onboarding process. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-think-theres-no-such-thing-as-employment-discrimination/965511/52 "2022-06-02T17:46:15Z")
Has anybody come forward to confirm his story? Have any women claimed that he rejected them? Has Google made any official statement? I can’t find any evidence of that. People are simply not feeding the troll. Neither should we. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-think-theres-no-such-thing-as-employment-discrimination/965511/53 "2022-06-02T18:22:00Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > If _The Internship_ (2013) is to be believed Google had _two_ interviewers present The standard Google interview format is five separate interviews (each with a single interviewer) where the interviewers write feedback (including which questions were asked), which is sent to a hiring committee who makes the actual hiring decision (without having met or seen the candidate, only the feedback). This is inconsistent with this guy’s story that he “rejected all women on the spot” since the interviewers don’t make accept/reject decisions. Certainly one could inject sexism into the process, but it’s hard to inject “comic book supervillain”-level sexism, like this guy claims to have done. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-think-theres-no-such-thing-as-employment-discrimination/965511/54 "2022-06-02T18:22:43Z")
I bet those assholes don’t document/comment a line of it either. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-think-theres-no-such-thing-as-employment-discrimination/965511/55 "2022-06-02T18:49:00Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > This is inconsistent with this guy’s story that he “rejected all women on the spot” since the interviewers don’t make accept/reject decisions. I’ve done lots of hiring for tech companies, and no single interviewers ever make hiring decisions. And his rejection of all female candidates would soon be obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-think-theres-no-such-thing-as-employment-discrimination/965511/56 "2022-06-02T19:02:43Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I wonder if this guy is going to end up a right-wing darling, like James Damore. Well, he believes people should seek careers where their natural strengths lie. ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-think-theres-no-such-thing-as-employment-discrimination/965511/57 "2022-06-02T19:37:20Z")
Holy shit…was this company based in Troy, on Big Beaver road? Because I think I also applied there (and turned them down) at one point. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-think-theres-no-such-thing-as-employment-discrimination/965511/58 "2022-06-02T19:44:25Z")
I’m pretty sure we’re talking about the same outfit. I love their software and still use it, but glad I don’t work there. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-think-theres-no-such-thing-as-employment-discrimination/965511/59 "2022-06-02T20:00:56Z")
Interesting…the one I was referring to made software basically for municipalities and first responder organizations…a limited audience for using software. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-think-theres-no-such-thing-as-employment-discrimination/965511/60 "2022-06-02T20:05:05Z")
Oh, in that case, no. The job I was considering was developing engineering simulation software. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-think-theres-no-such-thing-as-employment-discrimination/965511/61 "2022-06-02T20:12:12Z")
FWIW, apparently Patrick Shyu now calls the original post “overplayed sarcasm” [https://twitter.com/techleadhd/status/1529848994435694592](https://twitter.com/techleadhd/status/1529848994435694592) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-think-theres-no-such-thing-as-employment-discrimination/965511/62 "2022-06-02T20:31:00Z")
OK, a programmer will need some sort of terminal, but they’ll need that no matter where they’re working, and a terminal at home doesn’t cost any more than a terminal in an office. I guess they’d also need a modem, and maybe a couple of extra phone lines (one line at home, and one at the office), but that cost is negligible compared to the cost of the programmer themself, and probably also smaller than the office overhead the company would save. So, yes, I would maintain that it WAS possible for a programmer to work from home, even in the early days of programming, if the software companies had been willing to allow it (which I know they weren’t). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-think-theres-no-such-thing-as-employment-discrimination/965511.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-think-theres-no-such-thing-as-employment-discrimination/965511.md?page=4)