http://finance.yahoo.com/news/joke-dongles-conference-led-two-130019308.html Spoiler The world of tech was rattled this week when a quickly-dashed-off tweet alleging crude, sexist jokes resulted in two people losing their jobs. Earlier this week at the PyCon conference (the largest annual gathering for developers using the open-source Python programming language), a woman named Adria Richards overheard a joke between two men sitting behind her during a crowded presentation. Richards was offended and took a picture of the two men who were making jokes. She tweeted, "Not cool. Jokes about forking repo's in a sexual way and "big" dongles. Right behind me #pycon." She also attached a photo of the two people making the jokes. Richards worked for SendGrid, an email delivery company, as a developer evangelist. She had 10,000 Twitter followers. Because there are so few women in tech, accusations of sexist jokes can be damaging. Her tweet led to one of the people in the photo losing his job. Internet communities Hacker News, Reddit, and even Anonymous all became involved in the situation, which resulted in an online discussion addressing the tension between the "freewheeling boys-will-be-boys atmosphere" that has traditionally existed in technology and a modern politically correct atmosphere. For those of you who have never heard these terms, a dongle is a small piece of hardware that attaches to a computer, TV, or other electronic device and enables additional functions such as copy protection, audio, video, games, data, or other services that are only available when it is attached. Forking as it relates to software is defined when developers take a copy of source code from one software package and start independent development on it, creating a distinct piece of software. With all the attention, SendGrid found itself under attack, and it ended up firing Richards. In a statement, SendGrid said, "Effective immediately, SendGrid has terminated the employment of Adria Richards. While we generally are sensitive and confidential with respect to employee matters, the situation has taken on a public nature. We have taken action that we believe is in the overall best interests of SendGrid, its employees, and our customers. As we continue to process the vast amount of information, we will post something more comprehensive." We reached out to Richards for comment but have not heard back yet. She explained herself on her blog. Basically, she felt fed up after hearing their jokes and decided to do something about it. A person who says he's the guy who was fired left a comment on Hacker News on the situation, saying: As a result of the picture she took I was let go from my job today. Which sucks because I have 3 kids and I really liked that job. She gave me no warning, she smiled while she snapped the pic and sealed my fate. Let this serve as a message to everyone, our actions and words, big or small, can have a serious impact. Twitter The tech community has erupted in discussion with the majority siding with the fired PlayHaven employee. Richards has been threatened on Twitter and other Internet forums but has not tweeted from her account since March 20. .@adriarichards is currently getting doxed & threatened w/ violence. Search Twitter for her name & report abuse: bit.ly/Y82Ntx Basically quick overview, girl was offended by people sitting behind her in a conference making a joke about a computer term in a sexual way. She takes a pic of them and uploads it on Twitter. Eventually one of the guys on the pic get fired. Tech community went crazy and eventually the company for which that lady worked for got fired... I get that somethings maybe offensive for people to hear in society, but this lady's actions led to the loss of a job for someone else...in this case a dude.
what a b****. she can suck a dongle. instead of talking to them she takes their picture and posts it online for thousands to see?
I don't think what the lady did was a big deal. The guy's employer just overreacted in firing him. Either that, or the dude was already on thin ice. Don't know why she gets blamed for it either way. And the lady's own employer overreacted too.
Just goes to show the power of social media. Its a new world fellas. Be careful out there. Oh, and as for the woman involved....lighten up.
It cost a man and his family income...all is fun and games, but in this instance someone that was employed is no longer employed. Whatever the situation was, it is more than clear that her actions directly resulted in the termination of the dudes job...
I tend to agree. I don't like either action, but the employer is the one that made the decision to fire the guy over something so small as making jokes.
Well, technically, the employer caused his firing. Neither person should have been fired here. He was fired by a stupid employer, and she was fired in respond to the other stupid firing.
She was probably unusable at that point. Can't really build relationships or promote software if you're publicly sabotaging contacts at industry conferences over a freaking pun. I don't even think she was that offended by it; reminds me of that Chronicle society columnist who was blogging about being a stripper(?) and just came off as whiny and overly condescending.
So because this woman couldn't just turn around and say something, two people are out of a job. Okay.
She's cool. Let me break it down for anyone that's angry at her in their own language: those guys are "l@mz0rs n00bz"
What a b****. She posts someone's image online without their consent that leads to his firing. I hope he can sue in court for damages. Overreaction by her. Overreaction by his employer. She deservedly gets fired for causing her company bad PR.
