this post was submitted on 16 Aug 2023
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OOTL, what's going on here?
WHOA WHOA WHOA WHAT
The Billet Labs thing was unfortunate but I think they are capable of apologizing, learning lessons, and turning things around.
But that's not just a toxic work environment that Madison is describing. That's CRIMINAL. That's actually unforgivable. Just given how many people knew about it, I don't think it can be fixed by firing some people. And don't even think about a sorry video.
It’s hardly shocking though.
He’s outspokenly anti-worker and anti-union. Who is surprised that someone who is against workers rights would mistreat their workers?
Yeah the Union is a big one for me, my current employer is also like that. “Hey guys you can share your voice here and speak open about it…” Yes, that’s the problem, it’s open and not really anonymous so what can we talk about. If you can open talk about everything, you don’t have to fear unions.
Where did you hear that? From what I have heard he was in full support of the unions, all he said he wanted to create a company that doesn't require/need a union.
Not to be that guy, but in relation to being anti union, he specifically has said that if his employees feel like they needed a Union, then he has failed as a boss. In the sense that it should never get to the point where wanting a Union should come up as LMG should be a good enough work place to where it would be unnecessary to have.
There is a difference. I would want my employees to be happy and compesated enough to where needing a Union is just completely unneeded.
Yeah I get why he thinks that and it's a great goal to have as a boss. But who says that a union is always and entirely set up against him as a boss? If he is such a great boss there could very well be a union that doesn't have to do much. It's a defensive measure for worker's rights and working conditions, not an instituition for offense.
Jesus this bullshit lie needs to stop. The only thing he said is that if his employees started a union that there is nothing he could do about it and he would consider it a personal failure.
But by all means, if there's something I'm missing, please share.
I get your point, but it's more of a bigger picture for me.
Remember that WAN segment about quiet quitting? The vibe was off on that one. Especially keeping the previous remark about unions in mind. Why would he think that he can be owner and main manager of such a big company with gigantic daily content output AND keep his workers best interests in mind at all times? If he is not anti-union he is at the very least wrong on why they are necessary. In the worst case he actually realizes that he could do much better for his workforce.
I have legitimately no idea what remark you're referring to, other than the one I specifically outlined where he categorically did not condemn unions.
Sexual assault, a toxic frat-bro culture, and open misogyny isn't a personal failure?
Assuming any of that is true, then yes. That wasn't the topic of discussion.
I thought this wasn’t new. I remember him getting in some heated waters for being anti union (or just being a shitty boss) and being creepy with that female Chinese engineer at some convention
Additionally, here's a video from an all-hands meeting the day after she quit. (Reddit, sorry.)
The following is a transcript if you'd rather avoid Reddit:
(speaker 1, Linus) So we called this meeting because it's come to our attention that we need to have a quick chat about the best way to handle HR related feedback and rumors. We won't be giving any names for what I hope are extraordinarily obvious reasons, but what we can do is give you the following guidelines for problem solving and conflict resolution.
Sorry that this is all boring and corporate, but here we are. Number one, always stand up for what's right. We're only a team as long as we're all working together and working for each other. That's the most important one. Number two, always reflect on your own personal experiences and use your common sense. Few things in life are truly black and white. Number three, always wait to hear both sides of a story before passing your own judgment. Be cautious when you know that one side is bound by legal and ethical disclosure guidelines, when the other is not. Carefully consider what it says about the character of someone who would engage in that type of gossip against someone who has no power to defend themselves.
Number four, always encourage openness and transparency. If you have a problem, you need to speak up. We want to fix it. If you receive feedback about somebody else at this company, the first response is, have you spoken with this person? Followed closely by, you need to speak with this person. We don't solve interpersonal issues here, or really anywhere in your life, if you wish to live in a drama free zone, by engaging in water cooler politicking. So, if for any reason that individual is not comfortable approaching the person they're having a conflict with, we have a chain that they're supposed to follow.
So first, you advise them to take the problem to their manager. Followed by me or Yvonne, followed by our third party HR firm. I hope that you all trust that we're here to make this a safe, fun, and productive workplace, and we won't tolerate mistreatment of any of our team members.
If you have any reason to believe otherwise, then I refer you again to point number four, which is to address the issue with the individual directly, or bring it to me or Yvonne, or bring it to our third party HR firm. Since I'm not at liberty to share any details about what occurred, uh, all I can do is ask that you trust me and Yvonne.
Um, some of you know us very well, I've been here a very long time, um, some of you have not been here for as long, but I like to think that whether you've been here for nine years or nine days, you're here for a reason and you believe that we are utmost to run this company with integrity and compassion.
Um, We can't solve problems we don't know about though, so on that note, I'd like to invite anyone who has concerns about a fellow team member or about a manager to submit their feedback either by speaking with their manager, me or Yvonne directly, or if you would prefer to provide your feedback anonymously, we have an option for that as well.
It's the manager and co-worker feedback form. Uh, Yvonne, if you're not aware of it - show of hands who is not aware of it? Hey, a lot of people aren't aware of it. Good, so now we all know. There's an anonymous form, if for whatever reason you're not comfortable either talking to me me or Yvonne directly about it - and that's okay, that's fine, we understand, that's why we have these options - Yvonne's gonna post it in the general chat.
It's a safe space to provide us ideas for improvement, or if you're consumed by the holiday spirit and you want to say nice things, you can do that too. Does anybody else have any questions?
Not a single question? Wow, that must have been a really good speech.
(speaker 2, James) You gonna dance on that table, or just stand on it?
(speaker 1, Linus) That's it! So, um, Yvonne, did you have anything you wanted to add?
(speaker 3, Yvonne) (inaudible) Somebody said (inaudible) if you guys want to sanitize your hands, help yourself with free (inaudible)?
(speaker 1, Linus) Yeah, that was actually just totally random timing. It came up the stairs a moment ago. Dennis is on it. Alright. Thank you everyone. Have a wonderful and, uh, productive rest of your day. And weekend.
The account that initially posted the video has been suspended by Reddit as well.
Being transparent about your business, comes with pros and cons. Right now a female employee shared her end of the story to the web on why she quit, and you're seeing the reaction to it.
Edit: This amplified the ongoing issue about LTT and their information integrity, which is very likely due to root causes that Linus repeatedly ignored, or worse, believed he was right and everyone was wrong.
Didn't she leave about two years ago?
It seems she didn't speak out both because she thought she had an NDA and also because she was getting lots of harassment anyways and didn't want to add to it while in a bad place.
Yes of course but my point was: what's to say that nothing has changed since then?
Yes, she expands on why she didn't feel safe speaking out
Yeah, but she hadn’t talked about it publicly because of fear of harassment, death threats, etc from the community
Sounds like a great community if true...
I had to look it up myself. These two links seem to cover the controversy pretty well.
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-recent-criticism-of-linus-tech-tips-explained/
https://fandomwire.com/the-linus-tech-tips/
Edit:
Found this one too which is straight from the horse's mouth: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1691693740254228741.html
And former employee Madison's experience working there: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1691693740254228741
Why the hell does a technology review channel need an OnlyFans account? wtf
It was an April fools thing, they didn’t post anything explicit for the short time it was up
Because it was part of an april fools joke a year or two back.
I did a little googling and found this
https://www.dexerto.com/tech/ex-linus-tech-tips-employee-alleges-mistreatment-and-poor-conditions-2251613/