Fired ArenaNet dev calls dismissal 'an active solicitation of harassment' | PC Gamer Basically she posted about flaws in MMO storyline and a well known person within the community provides his opinion on it. She immediately screams "sexism and mansplaining". Calls the guy names and then is fired a day or two later. I don't think she should have been fired over it but it seems like a grey area. Like it was her personal account but she WAS talking about working for a company and imo representing hem poorly.
What'd the guy say to her originally? I think that she has a fair point that the company is giving into the mob and hanging her out to dry.
Army, Government, Emer Services and Corporations do have a thing about "bringing the company into disrepute". Depends on the contract I guess. Havent read everything but I'm guessing a majority of the arguments and issues were all shouted at within the office in person and whatever was deemed the dismissable act was probably more of a 'straw/camel/back'.
As far as I can tell he gave his opinion very politely on a thread. Apparently it was not a discussion and she got upset that a man dared give an opinion. I'll find the thread.
ArenaNet ‘folded like a cheap card table,’ says fired Guild Wars 2 writer This article has relevant links.
I don't see where she's talked about a MAN giving an opinion, so much as someone who's a complete amateur giving an opinion. It would be like me telling you "Hey, have you thought about hitting the other guy really hard?"
Except he's a prominent part of the games community, a notable you tuber for the game and I think he is even an npc in the game. Very much recognised by the devs. I think it would be more like Jack Slack ttelling me to punch them in the face.
One person's "gave his opinion very politely" is another person's sea-lioning. My understanding is that he had engaged in politely-phrased-but-incredibly-patronizing-and-unrequested explanation of how she should be doing her job...a job which she has done for years and which he doesn't do. And communicated this, unsolicited, to her personal account, not through any work channel. So she went off on him. Because female professionals typically deal with those sorts of patronizing comments from less-qualified individuals their entire professional careers. And she didn't go off on him for being a man; she went off on him for the way he was treating a female professional. Not quite the same thing. Edit: there's a lot more background and context in Polygon's coverage of the incident: ArenaNet ‘folded like a cheap card table,’ says fired Guild Wars 2 writer
I've already said I don't think she should have been fired. So she brought up gender first then? Why bring gender into a discussion in the first place? Someone disagrees with me, it MUST be because I'm female.
It's not an issue of "someone disagrees with me." A female professional having an unqualified layperson explain to them how to do their job is like an African-American shopper being followed around a store by store security, or African-Americans in a nice motor vehicle being pulled over based upon a trivial traffic infraction. Or an Asian-American being asked by someone "where they're from," and receiving a series of follow-up questions instead of "from Cleveland" or "from Chicago" being considered an acceptable answer. It's something that looked at in a complete cultural vacuum doesn't automatically appear to have any discriminatory element to it...but it's also something that overwhelmingly disproportionately happens to that particular demographic. You can't look at her reaction to a non-game-developer explaining to her how to be a game developer outside of that societal and historical context. When she said, "'Today in being a female game dev: ‘Allow me — a person who does not work with you — explain to you how you do your job,'" that's exactly what she was talking about. One of her male coworkers, who was also fired (for defending her), offered this explanation of the context of what was going on: “Male game devs deal with it too. Gamers don’t seem to believe expertise exists. But it’s not the constant deluge it is for women. Which was the point of the tweets that Peter made that got him fired: He was saying, ‘Hey, this is about gender, because I’m out here talking about the same stuff she’s talking about, and this doesn’t happen to me.’”
I didn't think he was telling her how to do her job. Then again I didn't understand a word of what either of them said. We're at a bit of a crossroads here. You're right and I have zero doubt that female devs get waaaaay more crazy men talking mad smack about them or try to make them doubt themselves or whatever. However, you can't have every interaction with someone who disagrees with you as an assault on your gender. It's just playing the victim card straight assault way. She easily could have handled it way better simply by saying "yeah but I'm a professional dev who knows what they're doing and you're a wee nonce with a few YouTube subscribers." Or she could have ignored him completely. She also called him and people who agreed with him "rando asshats" which is probably not a good way to describe your fanbase. And again, I still think still he should not have been fired, or her coworker.
I don't know enough abut this particular situation, but it makes me think of several things. Warning: I am about to have a "get off my lawn" rant. 1. People need to have some common sense talking about work on social media and the like. Seriously. I am very very VERY careful about combining my work and personal life. I don't befriend very many co-workers. Only a couple that I have a relationship a little stronger than work. Like a person I trained that regards me as her mentor. And I don't just not friend managers, I BLOCK them from my account. Also, I don't subscribe to my work's FB page because I don't want patrons tracking my personal life by finding me from there. I don't talk about what exactly I believe on certain political topics on the Internet. Period. Yet still, I don't post anything I know would reflect badly on my workplace. And I don't post anything that if my boss DID see, she would not like. It's should be common sense. I don't bash co-workers, complain about work, give out any private information about events with patrons, etc. On the very rare occasion I do talk about work, it is very bland, very generic. for example: I have shared a clever video from my co-workers on Facebook. But I see people do stupid things on Social Media all the time. A few example.......... 1. Someone, who's social life is largely co-workers, repeatedly typed things like "I am going to be late for work again because I stayed on here too long. Then she wondered why she didn't get promoted. 2. Person who got in trouble because she posted pictures of her out drinking with a friend. Then co-workers responded with "hey - you called in sick!" 3. People who post scores in games for everyone to see. Problem was, the game was pretending you were a drug dealer. 4.People who post about work situations that are not meant to be public. Various problems, various problem customers (not protecting the customer's privacy). 5. I know of someone who was fired for complaining about a co-worker, using social media ON their work time on a work computer. It isn't rare for people to use absolutely no common sense on the Internetz.............. They act like they are anonymous, even when posting where their name is AND posting things like their workplace. It's just stupid. If I ran into a patron I disliked in person, I would not be like "I am off work- you are a jerk." I would avoid them. If I couldn't not avoid them , I would find a way to get away asap. It I couldn't, I might say something like "I have to go do.... feel free to talk to me when I see you at (workplace.)" Technically, could I say what I want? Probably. And I work for the government and belong to a Union, so I probably would not get fired. But it just isn't smart and it isn't worth the possible repercussions. It may not be fair, but it is the way the world works. Reality check- real world vs ideals. Don't do anything on social media you wouldn't do in person. It seems so simple, but so few people get it. It constantly amazes me how stupid people are on social media. As for this woman, saying something like "I can say what I want on social media about my work. I don't have to be nice to a person talking about my job" it fits what I said above, it may not be right, but it certainly is not how the world works and that was dumb. No one should be surprised they are fired for something like this. Was there sexism and other things involved? Quite possibly. But seriously she didn't have common sense. There are ideals of how the world works, and there is the reality. Businesses have a LOT of power over one's life, like it or not. She should have known better, even if it isn't fair.
Yeah you're right. Businesses do hold too much away over our lives. That said, she didn't actually say anything bad about the company at all until after she was fired. You could make an argument that she represented the company poorly though I guess. You are very wise Aaradia to keep your work life and personal life separate. After hearing you talk about it I think I will do similar in future.
I can echo @aaradia view. I keep my personal accounts as separate from business as possible, I have some "social media" accounts associated. even if your opinion is valid, you cannot be seen as an employee of certain businesses engaging publicly in such arguments whether right or wrong. some companies are ok with it and some encourage it, but there are many with a low tolerance for such behaviour, and depending on where you are employed, the laws surrounding it can be very harsh. I know it's hard for women in STEM, so I can empathise with her opinion. It's how employment works in some industries, and often it's in the fine print of your enrolment terms and conditions.
