
Executive accused of harassment at Alphabet 'X' unit is out - moritzplassnig
https://www.axios.com/executive-accused-of-harassment-at-alphabet-x-unit-is-out-6f583d1e-91e3-4a8b-ae2b-51fd4517ec74.html
======
romwell
Before everyone jumps in with opinions protecting DeVaul or wondering why this
happened, read [1] and [2]:

1\. The executive has admitted fault.

2\. The fault included:

    
    
      a)Mentioning his relationship status ("poly") to a candidate during the interview;
    
      b)Asking for a sexual favor off-site while the candidate was still waiting for response
    

Neither it in and of itself an offense. The critical part is that he has done
so _from a position of power_ , specifically - as the interviewer, during the
employment process.

That's as black-and-white discrimination as I can see.

Sources:

[1][https://slate.com/technology/2018/10/google-x-sexual-
harassm...](https://slate.com/technology/2018/10/google-x-sexual-harassment-
allegations-employment.html)

[2][https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/25/technology/google-
sexual-...](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/25/technology/google-sexual-
harassment-andy-rubin.html)

~~~
jtmcmc
is mentioning that you are married in an interview in a position of power an
offense?

~~~
romwell
Mentioning that you are _single_ , and subsequently asking for a sexual favor
off-site while the candidate is yet to hear from your employer on the hiring
decision _most definitely is_.

In the context of b), you know full well that a) was a form of making sexual
advances. By itself, it's ambiguous, but _the ambiguity is not there in light
of what he did later_.

In case you missed it, DeVaul has asked the person he interviewed to remove
her shirt to let him do a back massage, repeatedly, while she was waiting on
the hiring decision.

~~~
jtmcmc
Right. I think that mentioning you are single or poly in an interview can with
certain context be inappropriate but not wholesale.

Regardless of his mentioning that it seems clear that the unambiguous offense
is the second one.

------
kerng
Was wondering how long that would take after the article last week.

