- cross-posted to:
- PCGaming@kbin.social
- Cryptic Fawn ( @CrypticFawn@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) English138•1 year ago
I always figured LTT was a boy’s club, considering how few female employees they have, but I had no idea the environment was that bad. Rather naive of me, tbh.
Ugh, I don’t think I can continue watching anything from LTT anymore. 😭 I hope Madison is doing better these days.
Edit: I’ve zero issues blocking bad actors. =)
- SeaJ ( @SeaJ@lemm.ee ) 24•1 year ago
It’s a lot of techies and IT guys. Sadly it’s basically expected that there will be a toxic environment for women. It’s HR’s job to put a stop to that shit so the company does not get sued. However, when the boss’ wife is the head of HR and the boss is the one allowing the toxic environment, it gets swept under the rug until it becomes a huge issue.
- Log1cal_Outcome ( @Shepstr@feddit.uk ) English4•1 year ago
She isn’t the head of HR.
Downvote if you want, but it is true.
- rammer ( @rammer@sopuli.xyz ) 5•1 year ago
She isn’t anymore. She was previously.
- Log1cal_Outcome ( @Shepstr@feddit.uk ) English1•1 year ago
Yeah, I believe when the company was a lot smaller.
- Polar ( @Polar@lemmy.ca ) 9•1 year ago
Maybe let both sides talk before picking a side? Or I guess you can just unsubscribe like a child.
- PeachMan ( @PeachMan@lemmy.one ) 53•1 year ago
Lol this fanboy
- Polar ( @Polar@lemmy.ca ) 7•1 year ago
Fanboy because I’m not reacting like a child before I hear both sides?
- PeachMan ( @PeachMan@lemmy.one ) 18•1 year ago
No, because you’ve posted SEVENTEEN TIMES today simping for Linus. You keep repeating “wait for both sides” even though Linus already responded directly to the GN piece and his response was GARBAGE, which is the main reason a lot of people are unsubscribing. Madison’s problem isn’t the only issue, it’s just another thing we’re throwing onto the pile.
If this was a male employee you wouldn’t be arguing this hard with the accusations.
- Polar ( @Polar@lemmy.ca ) 1•1 year ago
If this was a male employee you wouldn’t be arguing this hard with the accusations.
lmao. You seem to be projecting.
- Cryptic Fawn ( @CrypticFawn@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) English50•1 year ago
What a stupid thing to say. Unsubbing is a mature response.
- Polar ( @Polar@lemmy.ca ) 0•1 year ago
Waiting for both sides to tell their story is the mature response.
- Duamerthrax ( @Duamerthrax@lemmy.ml ) 25•1 year ago
It’s a sub. Why are you acting like unsubbing is such a terrible, immature response?
- Cryptic Fawn ( @CrypticFawn@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) English25•1 year ago
We already have their response though? They continue deleting comments that even bring it up. That alone should tell you everything.
Stop licking their boots; there are better tech channels.
- Nioxic ( @Nioxic@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) English11•1 year ago
But we wont hear llts response to this… lol
If she had several tweets of bullshit about the company, it might not have been like this 100%… but ill bet that this is just one out of several people who felt screwed working there
- money_loo ( @money_loo@1337lemmy.com ) 6•1 year ago
Linus?
- keefshape ( @keefshape@lemmy.ca ) 23•1 year ago
Both sides HAVE spoken. The fire was stoked by the shitty LMG response.
- U de Recife ( @UdeRecife@literature.cafe ) 20•1 year ago
I’m confused about your comment. Why assume it’s childish to act in a way that distances you of any drama?
Why that us vs. them attitude of name calling someone as childish? How is that any different of the childish behaviour that is being hoisted upon in the first place?
Perhaps that’s an indication that a side is already being chosen?
Anyway, don’t take my comment in a wrong way. I really have no dog in this fight. I barely know who this Linus guy is. I just dislike seeing people being rude to each other, unneedingly escalating discussions by being unkind.
- Dubious_Fart ( @Dubious_Fart@lemmy.ml ) English118•1 year ago
And this is why Lienus hates unions so much, cause it would have held him and his company accountable for the nasty, abusive shit they do behind the scenes.
- TheWorstMailman ( @TheWorstMailman@lemm.ee ) 35•1 year ago
Am I missing something? When had he expressed his hatred for unions? As a union man, if he had said something like that it would’ve pricked my ears. As far as I know, he’s said that he doesn’t want his employees to feel like they need a union, but wouldn’t stand in their way if they wanted one, which is about as good as it gets for a North American business owner.
If this stuff is true then they should unionize immediately. Solidarity Forever
Edit: I’m not going to double down. This was a blind spot for me, maybe because my union is already established and fairly strong, but I’ll hold this L and learn from it
- Dubious_Fart ( @Dubious_Fart@lemmy.ml ) English82•1 year ago
in one of the WAN shows he went on a big handwringing tirade about how “unions means I’m a failure as an employer” with undertones of “You wouldnt want to make me a failure by unionizing, right?”
- TheWorstMailman ( @TheWorstMailman@lemm.ee ) 24•1 year ago
Okay. So I’m not missing something. I guess I heard him say that it “would be a personal failure for him as an employer” as him taking personal responsibility for his employees’ treatment. A charitable interpretation, but just a difference of opinion.
I can see how people can interpret what he says as soft anti-union, it’s just weird to see you and others say things like this as if he’s sober sort of Robber Baron.
Edit: I’m not going to double down. This was a blind spot for me, maybe because my union is already established and fairly strong, but I’ll hold this L and learn from it
- snor10 ( @snor10@lemm.ee ) 16•1 year ago
Employers by nature seek profit above all.
Unions by nature seek improved wages and conditions for the employees above all.
Since the positions are diametrically opposed, we must evaluate all employer speech concerning unionization through this lens.
What I see is an employer trying to keep his reputation use deceptive doublespeak to discourage unionization among his employees.
- SRo ( @SRo@lemmy.sdf.org ) 8•1 year ago
You are a union man? Go speak with your fellow union people who work with negotiations and forming chapters and ask them what it means when a company says “we are pro unions but we feel it isn’t a good fit for us and we would have failed as a company if our employees would feel like they would need one”.
Hint: it’s something like “get the fuck out with the union shit, I’ll fire y’all”
- TheWorstMailman ( @TheWorstMailman@lemm.ee ) 10•1 year ago
Fair enough. I’m not going to double down. This was a blind spot for me, maybe because my union is already established and fairly strong, but I’ll hold this L and learn from it
- Pelicanen ( @Pelicanen@sopuli.xyz ) 9•1 year ago
I would just like to give props to you for owning up and listening to the information. I do not in any way think that you were wrong in your reasoning, just that there was more context that is likely relevant which you hadn’t been privy to, and once you were informed of it you reevaluated. Not everyone does that and I think a very valuable part of this community is when people do that (I know I’m not always particularly good at it myself).
- argv_minus_one ( @argv_minus_one@beehaw.org ) 5•1 year ago
Definitely charitable. My interpretation of his statement is that his idea of failure is unions because his idea of success is screwing over his employees.
- MrBusiness ( @MrBusiness@lemmy.zip ) English18•1 year ago
Yeah I remember listening to that WAN show, double speak for sure.
- Dubious_Fart ( @Dubious_Fart@lemmy.ml ) English31•1 year ago
Yep, he got caught with his manipulative word play this time by GN, but it also gives context for everything he’s said in the past and puts new light on them, because this isnt something people just wake up and decide to do one day. Its something they do their entire life.
- rbesfe ( @rbesfe@lemmy.ca ) 3•1 year ago
Why would “you wouldn’t want to make me a failure by unionizing” convince anyone not to unionize? You think poorly treated employees give a shit about their boss’ feelings? Put down the armchair psychology textbook and listen to the guy, he flat out says he supports unions and workers’ right to organize against antagonistic leadership.
- Dubious_Fart ( @Dubious_Fart@lemmy.ml ) English22•1 year ago
he said he supported unions, but doesnt want a union at his business.
he said we should call out bad companies, until its his company thats being called out.
Says he cares about employees, but ignores sexual harassment, abuse, and overworks them beyond capacity.
He says a lot of shit, until hes on the receiving end of it.
- rbesfe ( @rbesfe@lemmy.ca ) 1•1 year ago
Are you dense? He doesn’t want a union because in his mind, correctly, it would mean he’s a terrible person. Not every workplace needs a union.
- Dubious_Fart ( @Dubious_Fart@lemmy.ml ) English4•1 year ago
He types all this out, but has the audacity to call me the dense one.
I swear to god, these linus fart huffers…
- Reach ( @Reach@feddit.uk ) 3•1 year ago
Based edit. Also, happy you’re in a union <3
which is about as good as it gets for a North American business owner.
Meanwhile, Dave Oshry being a fucking chad (yes I know he lives in NZ, but he’s from the US)
spoiler
Sorry to anyone for whom spoilers don’t work
- inetknght ( @inetknght@lemmy.ml ) 77•1 year ago
I never publicly made any statements regarding my time there because I feared even more backlash from a community that was already attacking, defaming, and sending me death threats.
Fuck man, pretty much nobody should have to deal with that.
I was actually called a tattle tale
Been there done that.
“snitches get stiches” is the phrase I’ve been told many times
I was told I was arguing, when I was trying to discuss my point of view.
This too
I remember getting told off for taking my sick days, as in the days you’re entitled to.
I am still, to this day, hesitant to take days off from this kind of shit
I was asked to twerk for a co-worker at one point.
I know some ladies who were asked by the CFO of a previous company to jump in place while to get a company t-shirt that other employees received.
I was told I was chunky, fat, ugly, stupid. I was called “removed” I was called a “removed”
I was called “stupid” to my face in an open office with fifty other staff in the room.
I was also the one tasked with managing the Only Fans account.
Something I said I didn’t want to do.
I had to read comments from people talking about how they wanted to fuck me and my co workers.
I saw peoples dicks, and vagina’s.
I said no, and was told only a little longer.
You should never be obligated to do things you don’t want to do. No job is worth it.
Please don’t attack individuals who don’t actually have power at this company, most of them are blameless or powerless to actually change anything.
This absolutely. For every one person who speaks up there are usually multiple tens who do not.
Also “why didn’t you take legal actions”
Many of them don’t know better. Many of them feel like they’re trapped: they require the paycheck and so they feel obligated to endure abuses.
… Or, at least, that’s been my experience with employers. To be clear: I do not, and have not, worked for LMG. I’m not trying to make it about me, just trying to relate. It’s unfortunate easy to relate.
She’s got some tough issues and I wish her to have better employment opportunities in the future.
These days I work for a company where “everything is awesome” and I get to work on really cool things every day without too much drama. I wish everyone could do that. I certainly couldn’t have without deciding to leave an abusive employer. I encourage everyone to seek better employment if you feel like you can relate to any of the issues she’s brought up.
So here’s some tips. There’s a lot to unpack though.
- keep a personal record. Keep it at home. If it’s on a computer or phone then keep it on a personal one so you still have it if you do quit or are fired. Write down the good times and the bad times.
- if you’re hourly, make sure to include your clock-in and clock-out times
- if you live in a single-party-recording-consent state, then record your conversations
- if anything comes up, your personal records can be admissible in court
- if nothing comes up then at least you can look back at your records and remember how often good things or bad things happen. it will help you to make decisions objectively and judge your emotions for them
Sending unsolicited sexually explicit messages (even just text) or images is a federal crime and can be included in sexual harassment claims. If your employer does not address the problem then your employer may be held accountable. It’s important that you keep records of your complaint to your employer and their inaction!
So, learn about harassment and discrimination laws. Everyone has a right to not be harassed (sexually or otherwise) or discriminated against. You can file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Office or your state’s equivalent (not all states have an equivalent).
This is an excellent and thoughtful response. Thank you for taking the time.
- keefshape ( @keefshape@lemmy.ca ) 9•1 year ago
Agreed. Also thanks to you for noticing and hilighting the value of their response. An equally awesome move.
There is great content here on Lemmy. A welcome change from that other place if I might say. Cheers.
- inetknght ( @inetknght@lemmy.ml ) 8•1 year ago
Thanks :)
I’m not party to the accusations. Things can be interpreted many ways. So I tried to keep an open mind and my response fairly applicable to anyone in general.
It’s clear that someone is being deceptive. I have no idea whether it’s some of the LMG team or Madison. I have to trust someone claiming to be a victim though.
These are serious, possibly criminal, accusations that Madison is making on a very public platform. Big accusations like this honestly belong to the courts and I hope that courts will figure out the truth – that’s what they’re there for. If it all just boils down to PR and settlements out of court then IMO that is a miscarriage of justice for every would-be third party victim of harassment.
It’s true that just about any online platform has to deal with sexually explicit content. But OnlyFans has a particular reputation about it. So if LMG has an OnlyFans account and she was managing, producing for, or interacting with it then I most certainly believe she’d have been exposed to sexually explicit material. If I were to investigate, I’d start truth-finding from there: find out what management’s policies are/were with regards to dealing with that content and find out what actual actions were taken for that content. Subpoena OnlyFans to produce copies of the content and correlate their own reports of whatever action LMG claims to have taken. From there, the rest of the accusations will fall into place with weight.
Whether or not the accusations are true or not, you gave excellent life advice imho.
Onlyfans might indeed have something to say here. Let us hope they do.
- cobra89 ( @cobra89@beehaw.org ) 9•1 year ago
Adding this link for Canadian workers: https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/workplace-health-safety/harassment-violence-complaint.html
- keep a personal record. Keep it at home. If it’s on a computer or phone then keep it on a personal one so you still have it if you do quit or are fired. Write down the good times and the bad times.
- Squirrel_Patrol ( @Squirrel_Patrol@lemm.ee ) 76•1 year ago
My heart breaks for Madison because as a woman in tech myself, many of her experiences sound familiar. HR leaders, in many companies, exist primarily to serve the executive team and play PR for them. I’ve met very few who truly have employees backs and even they’re considered rebels. The best option most of the time is to leave the company because even if they call in a 3rd party, it’s lawsuit prevention and not an attempt to fix things. If anyone is in a situation where they’re the victim of inappropriate behavior and the company brings in their lawyer to talk to everyone, do not talk to them. They’re just gathering information so they can refute claims if litigation is presented. They work for the company, not you.
- 1984 ( @1984@lemmy.today ) 13•1 year ago
Jesus, never trust HR, ever!
I thought everyone understood this. They work for the company, not for you.
There are a lot of weird people in tech. They end up there because computers dont require social skills.
But there are also a lot of really good and nice people. I never watched Linux tech tips because unlike most, I didn’t like him at all. His vibe is shitty. It’s obvious.
My colleagues at work are great though. But they don’t use social media, which I think is part of why they are great. The constant need to be seen must be unhealthy.
- ineedaunion ( @ineedaunion@lemm.ee ) 10•1 year ago
I’m going through it now after being terminated for having the gall to stand up after a store manager and the HR rep took advantage of an underaged girl. The Home Depot everybody. I’ve been essentially blacklisted in this shit city in a state that looks like a face.
- Squirrel_Patrol ( @Squirrel_Patrol@lemm.ee ) 1•1 year ago
I’m so sorry this happened to you but also proud of you for what you did. That takes a lot of courage and if you haven’t already, retaliation can be reported and you may still be able to collect unemployment. I wish you all the best in your job search
- ineedaunion ( @ineedaunion@lemm.ee ) 1•1 year ago
I was denied both my appeals today for unemployment. It will be retribution then.
This is good advice. Oftentimes, if the workplace really is that toxic, they have methods in place to keep being that way and punish whistleblowers.
- Avid Amoeba ( @avidamoeba@lemmy.ca ) 67•1 year ago
What the actual fuck
I mean, in hindsight, I don’t know why I assumed differently. If it looks like a bro club…
- Dubious_Fart ( @Dubious_Fart@lemmy.ml ) English26•1 year ago
Makes you wonder about Maxine leaving now.
- Polar ( @Polar@lemmy.ca ) 6•1 year ago
No it doesn’t. She moved far up North to be with her boyfriend. Can you stop trying to make shit up?
- Dubious_Fart ( @Dubious_Fart@lemmy.ml ) English41•1 year ago
Wondering why previous employees left after the workplace is revealed to be a toxic, abusive shithole is not making things up.
- Log1cal_Outcome ( @Shepstr@feddit.uk ) English1•1 year ago
But it is speculation.
- Dubious_Fart ( @Dubious_Fart@lemmy.ml ) English5•1 year ago
Which, as you may note by your own word choice, isnt “making things up”
Its speculation based on new information.
- Log1cal_Outcome ( @Shepstr@feddit.uk ) English1•1 year ago
Yes speculation. Reasoning based on inconclusive evidence; conjecture or supposition.
- snor10 ( @snor10@lemm.ee ) 3•1 year ago
I’d like to think that it’s generally safe to assume that a company doesn’t conduct itself in this manner, but employers will always be incentivized to exploit it’s workers so we must be ever vigilant.
- Four_lights77 ( @Four_lights77@lemm.ee ) 55•1 year ago
Wow. I’m glad she spoke up and I hope she’s doing better now. I hope more people at LTT are empowered to speak out/leave by her courage.
- Dubious_Fart ( @Dubious_Fart@lemmy.ml ) English32•1 year ago
Just imagine how bad it is, behind closed doors and with the Cameras off, considering what the employees said in that LTT employee opinion video on camera, that GN repeatedly referenced, that they were over worked and didnt have time to make anything right.
- Xusontha ( @xusontha@ls.buckodr.ink ) 47•1 year ago
I’m going to copy and paste my comment from another post here:
If this is true this is bad. Like, really bad
I say “if” just because I don’t really know what the facts are, I just know what some people are claiming
To be clear, I’m not saying it didn’t happen, I’m just saying that, at the moment, it’s just Madison saying these things did happen and Linus essentially saying they didn’t
My question is if she had such a bad experience, why hasn’t anyone else said anything, or at least put an anonymous negative review on Glassdoor or something? Did she just have a awful experience that was unusual, or is everyone/a large number of people treated like this? I don’t think it’s the second or it would’ve come out already and from more than one source (and the turnover is pretty low for LMG if I’m not mistaken, so that also doesn’t make sense), but I don’t really know. That’s really the crux of the situation, is I just don’t know. I’m glad they got an outside investigator though; hopefully that’ll clear everything up
- inetknght ( @inetknght@lemmy.ml ) 43•1 year ago
why hasn’t anyone else said anything,
People don’t speak up for many reasons. Retaliation is a big thing: if you speak up then your job there is toast whether or not you’re still employed there. You still “have” to work with or around the people you’re accusing, until and unless you leave. Have you ever had to work with someone who’s abused you? It’s… not fun.
If you need the money, you’re kind’ve stuck: if you quit then you have to have a savings account to keep you afloat while you look for another job. While you’re looking for another job, your accusations here can prevent you from getting another job. Whether or not you leave, you still have to deal with the fallout: investigations take time, especially your time. If you have to take time off of work (eg, to see an attorney or visit a court) then that time might not be paid – can you afford to take that time off? Worse; you might even have to pay someone for that time (eg, an attorney). Can you afford that? That’s especially true if your compensation barely meets your financial obligations such that you’re not really able to put away savings. There’s a term for that: wage slave. Those costs are partly why there’s government agencies designed to help you.
Thoughts about cost is just the tip of the iceberg. Many don’t realize that they’re being abused. A lot of people don’t realize that others might also be victims too. Some people trivialize it. Friends around you tell you that it’s “normal” behavior or that it’s normal for coworkers to “socialize” and banter, that they didn’t mean anything about it. People start to second-guess themselves.
When’s the last time your company gave you anti-harassment training? If it’s been more than a year (or never) then you might want to speak up about it and ask for it to be provided. Or, reach out to your government agency and ask for some training guidance.
or at least put an anonymous negative review on Glassdoor or something?
Glassdoor is notoriously business-friendly. It’s fairly trivial for businesses to have reviews removed.
- Xusontha ( @xusontha@ls.buckodr.ink ) 7•1 year ago
I knew speaking up publicly wasn’t very likely for most for the reasons you talked about and I was more expecting anonymous complaints, maybe didn’t phrase that part well
For the anonymous negative review, I didn’t mean just Glassdoor, I meant in general we haven’t really heard very much negative about working at LMG besides it’s somewhat stressful because of the fast pace at which everything runs. If it was as bad for everyone as Madison claims it was for her (reiterating, not claiming it didn’t happen, just we don’t know anything definitively yet) then at least one other person in the 100+ person company would have contacted someone like the Verge or Coffeezilla or anyone else who does news/exposés. Even if most were trivializing it, there should be at least more than just Madison realizing it with how bad she was saying it was. Also, she talked about some of her coworkers apologizing to her for others’ actions, so at least some of them realize that not everything is just “normal”
- inetknght ( @inetknght@lemmy.ml ) 13•1 year ago
For the anonymous negative review, I didn’t mean just Glassdoor, I meant in general we haven’t really heard very much negative about working at LMG besides it’s somewhat stressful because of the fast pace at which everything runs. If it was as bad for everyone as Madison claims it was for her (reiterating, not claiming it didn’t happen, just we don’t know anything definitively yet) then at least one other person in the 100+ person company would have contacted someone like the Verge or Coffeezilla or anyone else who does news/exposés. Even if most were trivializing it, there should be at least more than just Madison realizing it with how bad she was saying it was. Also, she talked about some of her coworkers apologizing to her for others’ actions, so at least some of them realize that not everything is just “normal”
I’ve been at companies with 150+ employees where people didn’t speak up in official complaints about perceived or observed issues. We’d all go to a bar after work and talk about things after a few drinks. I don’t know how many things weren’t mentioned at the bar and I certainly didn’t go to every company social event. “Keep things in the family” was a strong sentiment. Were things mentioned online? I’m aware that we did end up with some very poor Glassdoor and Indeed reviews – those were shared directly to me by former employees. But those eventually disappeared. So, after some time, generally nope.
Several people, including myself, would bottle up the problems and just decide to leave after the bottle filled. It’s not healthy to keep that bottle full and it’s a personal decision about whether to raise the concerns or find employment elsewhere.
I’m no saint. I’ve made mistakes and I’ve had some talkings-to about them, both at the bar and outside of it. I’ve learned from them. It’s important for everyone to admit when they make mistakes and talk about what they’ve learned from them. It’s part of the reason why anti-harassment is one of the things I’m passionate about.
So I’m speaking from third party (w.r.t. LMG) experience. So, back to the topic at hand.
Perhaps people did speak up about LMG but those complaints didn’t weren’t public or didn’t gain public traction. For example, I remember some drama about Linus and Naomi Wu a few years ago. What came of that? Those events aren’t (as far as I’m aware of) related to Madison Reeves. But honestly it doesn’t matter except that, if true, it can set a pattern.
I don’t think anyone should assume that people would have spoken up about issues prior to Madison. Even if someone did, Madison’s statements deserve to be viewed on their own merit regardless of other people’s statements. Now that the accusations are public, if they bring other statements public, then those can be viewed in their own light as well.
Perhaps there’s someone from LMG who will provide a contrasting experience. That would be interesting. Even if that happens, quite honestly, the investigation should default to being private until and unless one party chooses to share more information.
- Xusontha ( @xusontha@ls.buckodr.ink ) 8•1 year ago
Madison’s statements deserve to be viewed on their own merit regardless of other people’s statements
I honestly and wholeheartedly agree with this. Anytime there’s a problem of this nature it should be looked into and investigated. My main point is just, at this point, it’s hard to definitively know the exact, full truth (again, just to be clear not saying it didn’t).
the investigation should default to being private until and unless one party chooses to share more information
Given how personal and private this investigation is, I wouldn’t want the specific details to be released unless Madison/others who were hurt want to reveal their own details. However, I would hope whoever does the investigation would reveal simply if this is true or not and if so to what extent (like is everything Madison said 100% true, is most of it, is a little, or none of it)
Edit: Apparently the CEO said they will publish the findings of the external investigation, which is good. He seems like he wants to tell the truth, so that’s good.
- inetknght ( @inetknght@lemmy.ml ) 3•1 year ago
I would hope whoever does the investigation would reveal simply if this is true or not and if so to what extent (like is everything Madison said 100% true, is most of it, is a little, or none of it)
Keep it balanced. The investigation should only state what changes to the company are recommended as a result of the investigation. If staffing changes are recommended, then no statement of why. Further information is relevant only to the parties involved. Anything else can cause further problems.
- Xusontha ( @xusontha@ls.buckodr.ink ) 3•1 year ago
I just found out the CEO said they will publish the findings of the external investigation, and I think they won’t release anything that’s personal unless the victim themselves wants it released as that would just make the situation worse (on top of just not being a nice thing to do)
- Lettuce eat lettuce ( @Lettuceeatlettuce@lemmy.ml ) 31•1 year ago
This dropped a few hours ago, so let’s wait a bit and see. Often times rot gets exposed in waves. One skeleton falls out of the closet and then a bunch of other skeletons follow.
Even if Madison is the only employee that ever experienced this (doubtful) that is already horrific. She isn’t claiming that it was a single small incident that might have been a bad joke or a misinterpretation of some comment. It’s a bunch of incidents, so not like one thing got blown way out of proportion.
Why has nobody else said anything before? There’s tons of reasons why that might be the case. First, maybe people have and it has remained internal/supressed. Maybe other instances were more “mild” and the victims didn’t feel the need to quit. Maybe the other victims were too frightened, felt they had too much to lose, were pressured more harshly.
I’m standing with Madison until proven otherwise. There have been plenty of hints of this sort of thing for a while, and like I said, scandals tend to come in waves. Nobody says anything for a long time until something bad enough happens that triggers the cascade of testimonies.
Best case scenario, LTT is a toxic workplace that overworks its employees, places profit and marketability over quality data/reviews, and is more and more in bed with corporate powers vs consumers.
Sad, I grew up with LTT through my tech journey, now bye-bye to yet another company/project that fell to the effects of capitalism and enshitification.
- Xusontha ( @xusontha@ls.buckodr.ink ) 11•1 year ago
CEO said the external investigation’s results will be made public, so I’ll wait to make my opinions then. However, if it turns out they’re true, then they’ll lose a large part of their fanbase, including me.
I dunno, Linus recognized the fact he is not a good CEO and hired a replacement to fix that problem. If the investigation comes back that there were issues and the perpetrators are purged from the company (or at least severely sanctioned) then I’m willing to give Terran a chance to right the ship
- Xusontha ( @xusontha@ls.buckodr.ink ) 2•1 year ago
I should clarify: if the allegations are true, then they will need to handle it well to convince me to stay. If they just do a mediocre job then I’ll probably just dip
- bionicjoey ( @bionicjoey@lemmy.ca ) 18•1 year ago
It’s possible their turnover is low enough that a Glassdoor review would be easy to figure out the author, even if anonymous
- Xusontha ( @xusontha@ls.buckodr.ink ) 2•1 year ago
Very true
- ipkpjersi ( @ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml ) 13•1 year ago
She did write a review on Glassdoor, and Linus downplayed it then IIRC
- Xusontha ( @xusontha@ls.buckodr.ink ) English6•1 year ago
I know she did, but what I was saying was why didn’t anyone else (on Glassdoor or anywhere else) (also the downplaying isn’t very good, it was someone’s legitimate feelings even if you/others disagreed with them)
I only see two other reviews on their Glassdoor which are both positive, but that isn’t a lot so it’s hard to draw a definitive conclusion
- ipkpjersi ( @ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml ) 9•1 year ago
Sure, it’s not a great indication. Everything I’ve seen so far, and the leaked 2021 meeting with James seeming to have made a sexual joke at the end of a sexual harassment meeting… it’s not looking great.
If it looks like a duck, and it quacks like a duck… it might be a duck.
- Xusontha ( @xusontha@ls.buckodr.ink ) English3•1 year ago
It very well might be… though I hope (less and less now) it’s just a weird pigeon
Edit: That recording of the team meeting with James’ joke really doesn’t help
- tenochtitlan ( @tenochtitlan@lemmy.ml ) 4•1 year ago
A former employee of LTT responded to Madison’s departure announcement supporting her decision to leave LTT.
Here is the tiktok of the employee vagueposting about a possible toxic work environment. (Name is Maxine).
- Xusontha ( @xusontha@ls.buckodr.ink ) 1•1 year ago
That link doesn’t work cuz the post is deleted, but here’s an archive of it
I’m a bit confused on how it supports her decision though, can you explain? (not saying it doesn’t, I’m just not into a ton of zoomer tiktok stuff and think there’s something I’m missing)
- tenochtitlan ( @tenochtitlan@lemmy.ml ) 1•1 year ago
I forgot to mention that she showed support on a different platform, twitter .It all occurred at the same time, that’s why I lumped it all together. Can’t link since I don’t have an account. I’m pretty sure I saw people mentioning Max’s twitter support in the comments of the reddit post. It was in the form of a liked tweet which is big because everyone can see your liked tweets.
The old version of the post works but not the redesign for some reason.
I wasn’t aware of that leaked meeting. What are you refering to ?
- ipkpjersi ( @ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml ) 2•1 year ago
There was a meeting the day after Madison quit, and at the end of the meeting, James seems to have made a joke about sexual harassment. It wasn’t a great look. That meeting recently leaked.
Ah yes this one. Quite awful indeed.
- circuscritic ( @circuscritic@lemmy.ca ) 11•1 year ago
Linus is not declaratively stating it didn’t happen, he’s using PR doublespeak to minimize his legal exposure down the road.
- Xusontha ( @xusontha@ls.buckodr.ink ) English3•1 year ago
That’s why I said “essentially saying they didn’t”. He’s doing it for business reasons, but at it’s core, his message was he wasn’t aware of it and didn’t think it was happening, while Madison was saying he did know and didn’t care Maybe one is lying, maybe both are, maybe neither are. At this point, we really can’t know until something like that third party investigator releases their results
- pascal ( @pascal@lemm.ee ) English11•1 year ago
at least put an anonymous negative review on Glassdoor
the review on glassdoor is hers.
- Xusontha ( @xusontha@ls.buckodr.ink ) 3•1 year ago
I know, that’s why I meant someone besides Madison when I said anyone else. Sorry if that wasn’t clear
- chaorace ( @chaorace@lemmy.sdf.org ) English8•1 year ago
My question is if she had such a bad experience, why hasn’t anyone else said anything, or at least put an anonymous negative review on Glassdoor or something? […] (and the turnover is pretty low for LMG if I’m not mistaken, so that also doesn’t make sense)
Indeed, why is that? Why would she have such an abnormaly bad experience at this particular company? I can’t seem to think of any particular traits that she might have which would have caused her to be treated differently. If sexist comments and sexual harassment are such a problem, then why do people like Gary, James, Ed, Nick, Colton, or Luke apparently seem blind to it? I have no idea what disparity in the distribution of power could possibly account for this phenomenon!
- Xusontha ( @xusontha@ls.buckodr.ink ) English2•1 year ago
The fact she is a woman is different than the majority, however there are other women at LMG and most likely/hopefully, not all the men at LMG are sexist so most likely at least one person from one of those camps would object/want to do/say something (I would hope little to none would be sexist, but we don’t work there so we don’t know)
But the point she is a woman makes it more likely/harder is entirely valid, yes
- chaorace ( @chaorace@lemmy.sdf.org ) English9•1 year ago
The fact she is a woman is different than the majority, however there are other women at LMG
I don’t know how to respond to this without speaking condescendingly. I’m sorry, but you’ll just have to trust me when I say that women can still be subjected to workplace harassment in situations where they aren’t literally the only girl in the building. I’ll leave it at that unless an actual woman wants to step in and expand on this subject further.
not all the men at LMG are sexist so most likely at least one person from one of those camps would object/want to do/say something
That’s just how power works. If you’re in the minority, your needs and concerns get less attention. If you’re in a very small minority, they become practically invisible. Organizations aren’t immune to this. Sexist outcomes can and will readily emerge from systems where none of the individuals directly intend to do a sexism.
As evidence, I’ll point to the statistic itself. A gender gap as steep as this one doesn’t happen by random chance. The only way you get this far skewed is with a feedback loop.
- Xusontha ( @xusontha@ls.buckodr.ink ) 1•1 year ago
I’m sorry, but you’ll just have to trust me when I say that women can still be subjected to workplace harassment in situations where they aren’t literally the only girl in the building.
I didn’t mean it didn’t happen, what I meant is there are other people who would be going through the same thing she did. I understand that it happens that’s why I said your point about her being a woman is valid
That’s just how power works. If you’re in the minority, your needs and concerns get less attention. If you’re in a very small minority, they become practically invisible. Organizations aren’t immune to this. Sexist outcomes can and will readily emerge from systems where none of the individuals directly intend to do a sexism.
Again, I think you missed my point. I’m not saying it didn’t happen (or did; we still don’t have the report from the investigation), rather I’m just wondering why no one else said anything (again, just to be perfectly clear, I’M NOT SAYING IT DID OR DID NOT HAPPEN I’m just trying to understand the situation and how we got to this point. Maybe she was directly under a single person who was really bad. Maybe all the women are treated bad. We just don’t know, at least not until the results from the external investigation come out.)
- chaorace ( @chaorace@lemmy.sdf.org ) English5•1 year ago
You’re of course within your rights to remain unconvinced, but I fail to understand the mindset that would lead a reasonable bystander to look at what Ms. Reeves has said thus far and think “there’s a significant chance that this is untrue”. Why? For what purpose? She stands to gain nothing by lying unless you start imagining that a much broader conspiracy is somehow at play.
If you’re willing to entertain the idea of a hitherto unsubstantiated conspiracy from one side, then why not also suspect that LMG will conspire to hire a crooked auditor or otherwise hide unflattering findings? Why take anyone’s word for anything?
- Xusontha ( @xusontha@ls.buckodr.ink ) 1•1 year ago
Why take anyone’s word for anything?
What I was trying to say is I’m not really taking anyone’s word for anything, I’m just trying to put the puzzle pieces together about what might have happened to result in the statements and facts we do know (which are really not a lot)
I fail to understand the mindset that would lead a reasonable bystander to look at what Ms. Reeves has said thus far and think “there’s a significant chance that this is untrue”
My mindset is this: I don’t know Madison, nor do I know Linus or anyone else at LMG. So I don’t really trust either them (more specifically I don’t immediately believe what either say without other reasons to believe it), since all I’ve seen of them is what they’ve allowed people to see of them. However, just because I don’t immediately take what they say as fact doesn’t mean I dismiss what they say; rather instead it means I want to look into and figure out whether it is true
- andruid ( @andruid@lemmy.ml ) 2•1 year ago
I mean another piece of evidence is that she had really choose a hard path to walk IF there was nothing going on. She could have just left and kept this bridge unburned if their was nothing to this.
- Xusontha ( @xusontha@ls.buckodr.ink ) 3•1 year ago
In this situation, one thing that is essentially certain: something happened which led to Madison leaving the company. The reason why is what is being looked into right now (aka are Madison’s claims true)
- WorseDoughnut 🍩 ( @worsedoughnut@lemdro.id ) English41•1 year ago
This is the leat surprising information anyone could have told me about working for LTT/LMG. Time and time again, tech jobs and game dev jobs in workplaces run by “old internet edgelords” always (always) results in shit like this.
- thisbenzingring ( @thisbenzingring@lemmy.sdf.org ) English35•1 year ago
I believe her.
I have been in the tech industry for almost 30 years. These things she talks about are not new and will keep happening unless more people talk about them. I gave that Linus guy a listen once or twice, was never impressed. His fans are delusional, this thread contains a few of them!
- 3l3s3 ( @3l3s3@feddit.de ) 34•1 year ago
Jesus Christ on a motorbike. They have no idea what they had with her, does she still create content?
- TheImpressiveX ( @TheImpressiveX@lemmy.ml ) 54•1 year ago
Jesus Christ on a motorbike.
Here you go!
- chaorace ( @chaorace@lemmy.sdf.org ) English18•1 year ago
I’m disappointed. Jesus of all people should know how dangerous it is to ride without proper gear. Where’s the helmet? Where’s the armor? And, Christ… are those Sandals?? ATGATT!
- drcobaltjedi ( @drcobaltjedi@programming.dev ) 14•1 year ago
He’s fine. If he gets into an accident he’ll just get back up in a little bit.
- SatyrSack ( @SatyrSack@lemmy.one ) 9•1 year ago
A little bit? It’d probably take a few days.
- rndll ( @rndll@lemm.ee ) 9•1 year ago
At least 3 if I’m not mistaken.
- Jo Miran ( @JoMiran@lemmy.ml ) 6•1 year ago
Good bot
Wonderful.
- baseless_discourse ( @baseless_discourse@mander.xyz ) 21•1 year ago
She is on twitch and youtube https://linktr.ee/suop
- SeaJ ( @SeaJ@lemm.ee ) 44•1 year ago
Our HR team will be conducting a more thorough assessment of the allegations,
Tip for LMG: don’t have the founder’s wife be head of HR.
- Nioxic ( @Nioxic@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) English7•1 year ago
HRs job is to protect the company… from employees. So they dont sue.
So they pressure the leadership: you cant do this, because then X will sue.
You cant do that coz then the government will give us a large fine etc etc
Thwy are not there to help the employees. At all. Ever. Lol.
- Double_A ( @Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de ) 33•1 year ago
If you are in a similar situation… remember that you don’t have to say “yes” to everything at work! It’s the professional thing to say “no” when it’s appropriate instead of overworking yourself and lowering the quality of your work.
- ulkesh ( @ulkesh@beehaw.org ) 31•1 year ago
Wow. LTT, LMG, and Linus are just plain shit (given this, other reports, GN’s latest videos, and how Linus has responded). I’m still quite glad I never bought into their hype. Now I know to actively avoid the idiots.
- appel ( @appel@lemmy.ml ) 30•1 year ago
Jesus, that is beyond awful. I’m really sorry she had to go through so much bullshit and I’m really glad she’s speaking up.
- cordlesslamp ( @cordlesslamp@lemmy.today ) 30•1 year ago
Yikes.
Never knew she quitted LTT. Back then I was so happy for her for getting her “dream job”, she seem so happy.
She is charming and I love every second of her on screen. She was having a huge approval from fans for every videos she was on, even though there’s not much of them, only a handful afaik.
I was wondering why she wasn’t appear in more videos but then I just thought since her main role was social media, she needs to focus on that.
Now I feel really bad for her after reading the whole thing.
For now, I’ll give LTT the benefit of the doubt and waiting for their response.
- Xusontha ( @xusontha@ls.buckodr.ink ) English15•1 year ago
I just typed a whole response and it just got deleted ugh. I’m going to just summarize what I’m saying:
I think this is terrible if it happened, but if it did then why hasn’t anyone else had the same thing happen to them/talk out about it/post something anonymously? Not saying it didn’t, just wondering how we got to this situation and what the actual facts are. I’ll be waiting for facts from a third party to make my final judgement though (think I got it all)
Also here is a response from Linus via the Verge:
I was in a state of shock reading through these allegations, plain and simple. They aren’t consistent with my recollections. They aren’t consistent with our internal processes. They aren’t consistent with our company values. We pride ourselves on maintaining a safe and inclusive environment. In addition to our existing report systems (both anonymous and otherwise) we’ve proactively reached out internally today to encourage members of our team to report any workplace bullying or harassment they might be experiencing so we can take quick and decisive action. Our HR team will be conducting a more thorough assessment of the allegations, and when we are ready, we will release a more complete statement. For now I would ask that we allow our team the time they need be as thorough as possible.
Also forgot to add, the new CEO Terran Tong is also hiring an outside investigator to look into it. I would like for those results to be made public
Tong committed to make the results public. Let us hope he does exactly that.
- msage ( @msage@programming.dev ) 8•1 year ago
I’m sorry, what benefit of the doubt? What could they possibly say to make anything look differently?
- cordlesslamp ( @cordlesslamp@lemmy.today ) 3•1 year ago
It’s only fair, right? Always hear all sides of the story before judgement.
Remember recently, a video on social media of a white “karen” seem to try stealing a bike from a black man and try to “play victim” by crying? Turned out she’s a nurse that rented that bike first and was harassed by the man to the point she’s crying and yelling for help?
- msage ( @msage@programming.dev ) 2•1 year ago
What side?
A company that will try to save face because they have a lot to lose?
What in the world do you imagine they can say? That they will corraborate her story?
- alertsleeper ( @alertsleeper@lemm.ee ) 2•1 year ago
If you aren’t willing to give them the benefit of the doubt you are also part of the problem jumping to conclusions before hearing all the arguments
- msage ( @msage@programming.dev ) 2•1 year ago
Please answer the question: what could they say to make you feel any differently?
- alertsleeper ( @alertsleeper@lemm.ee ) 2•1 year ago
I honestly have no idea. Right now I don’t believe I’ll ever watch LTT videos the same way just because I know behind cameras the whole thing might be a shitshow. But probably the result of this whole investigation might change my mind
- msage ( @msage@programming.dev ) 2•1 year ago
You do understand that it’s incredibly hard to prove workplace harassment beyond reasonable doubt? Which is why victims almost never go public? Since nobody believes them and want to hEaR bOtH sIdEs?
This isn’t two ex lovers arguing, this is workplace harassment ffs.
- alertsleeper ( @alertsleeper@lemm.ee ) 1•1 year ago
I do realize that. But by the way you wrote this comment you completely despise the idea of
to hEaR bOtH sIdEs
So we should just take one side’s word and run with it? Sounds awfully dangerous tbh
- msage ( @msage@programming.dev ) 1•1 year ago
Yes, I completely despise it.
It makes sense to hear both sides when the sides are equal - like Depp vs Heard. But when you get an entire novel written about workplace harrassment and abuse, I don’t care what the PR dept will cough up. Specially after hearing the response to GN video.
Give me other ex-employees, give me third party investigations, but I absolutely do not give a damn about the company response.