
Magic Leap Settling Sex Discrimination Lawsuit with Former Employee - harbage
https://www.vrandfun.com/magic-leap-settling-sex-discrimination-lawsuit-with-former-employee/
======
BrainLesion
“In IT we have a saying; stay away from the Three Os: Orientals, Old People
and Ovaries.”

In 17 years of working IT, I have never heard this saying and nothing even
close.

~~~
wavefunction
I would report anyone that said that to HR.

~~~
dsfyu404ed
I guess if your only metric is what people are willing to say in front of you
then it probably works but you know what they say about metrics...

In general, going for the passive aggressive nuclear option and involving some
external authority as your first step is almost never* the right thing to do
if you want to actually solve the problem.

In the context of things that shouldn't be said in the workplace doing that
creates distrust that prevents people from speaking freely which inevitably
works its way into everywhere and affects performance.

*ignoring edge cases.

~~~
s73ver
If someone hasn't realized by now that saying something like that is
unacceptable, I have to call into question their critical thinking skills.

------
johngalt
From the complaint:

> ... the “Wizards Wanted” section of its website. Indeed, given that a
> “wizard” generally is defined as “a man who has magical powers,” and
> virtually without exception images of wizards are male, Magic Leap’s
> recruiting verbiage contains a not-so-subtle “women-need-not-apply” message.

Ummm... technically there is an equivalent 'typically female' term for a woman
with magical powers.

I think Magic Leap would still be in trouble if they had used _that_ term in
their recruiting literature.

~~~
dragonwriter
> Ummm... technically there is an equivalent 'typically female' term for a
> woman with magical powers.

"Sorceress"?

~~~
vkou
"Magician"? Works for all genders, too!

~~~
dragonwriter
"Magician" is gender-neutral and ideal, but not "typically female".

~~~
xherberta
Unfortunately "Magician" doesn't sound like a person you would want messing
around in your code base, though.

~~~
coev
The company has "magic" in its name, I think they get a pass.

------
DonHopkins
"Magic Leap is probably one of the most secretive technology companies of our
generation"??! It's no secret that they're a fraud. That cat's out of the bag.

I mean, come on: just watch Rony Abovitz's TEDxSarasota talk [1] that he so
fittingly presented at the Ringling College of Art & Design [2], whose
trademarked mission phrase is "Shattering the myth of the starving artist.™".

Yes, those very same Ringling brothers [3], whose colleague P. T. Barnum said:
"There's a sucker born every minute." Send in the clowns.

Charlatans like these give the rest of the industry a terrible name.

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8J5BWL8oJY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8J5BWL8oJY)

[2]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringling_College_of_Art_and_De...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringling_College_of_Art_and_Design)

[3]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringling_Bros._and_Barnum_%26_...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringling_Bros._and_Barnum_%26_Bailey_Circus)

~~~
unclesaamm
The Ringling College of Art and Design is a reputable design school. Doesn't
have much to do with clowns or PT Barnum.

~~~
DonHopkins
In my mind, they're not as reputable after having given Rony Abovitz a
platform to perform that "fudge". Just watch the video, if you can stomach it,
all the way through. And read the comments, like this one:

\----

Nick Steele 2 years ago (edited)

This is a joke. Take it for what it is. They didn't want to say anything so
they basically said "are you ready? READY? ... fuck you".

After a completely ridiculous intro which includes nano machines humping blood
cells and two crack monkeys worshiping a massive block of "demented space
fudge" which takes up 75% of the talk until 4:30, right after 30 seconds of
literal silence, a spaceman says "greetings" and introduces today's "keyword"
which is "fudge", then a guy plays terrible music out of tune and sings half-
way into the mic. Then the lights suddenly go out and the crack moneys and
space man simply walk away.

Keep in mind the audience thinks they are about to hear a billionaire explain
his new "world changing" virtual/augmented reality technology, then they get
this shit.

The best part is the audiences reaction at the end. :)﻿

\----

And if that's not enough proof that Magic Leap is a fraud, then watch their
completely fake demo, that they originally did not truthfully bill as a
"concept video" but instead they falsely and deceptively titled it "Just
another day in the office at Magic Leap" and described it with the blatantly
false claim that "This is a game we’re playing around the office right now".
But since then, the title and description have been retroactively amended,
AFTER they got busted.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPMHcanq0xM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPMHcanq0xM)

[https://www.theverge.com/2016/12/8/13894000/magic-leap-ar-
mi...](https://www.theverge.com/2016/12/8/13894000/magic-leap-ar-microsoft-
hololens-way-behind)

[https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/12/09/magic_leap_neither_...](https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/12/09/magic_leap_neither_magic_nor_leaping/)

[https://www.slashgear.com/magic-leap-video-may-have-
involved...](https://www.slashgear.com/magic-leap-video-may-have-involved-
more-magic-than-tech-09466957/)

[http://www.techspot.com/news/67342-reality-magic-leap-
fake-d...](http://www.techspot.com/news/67342-reality-magic-leap-fake-demo-
videos-delayed-technology.html)

[https://www.theverge.com/2016/12/8/13894000/magic-leap-ar-
mi...](https://www.theverge.com/2016/12/8/13894000/magic-leap-ar-microsoft-
hololens-way-behind)

[http://time.com/3752343/magic-leap-video/](http://time.com/3752343/magic-
leap-video/)

\----

That last Time article above was written BEFORE they got busted, and it cites
a Magic Leap company spokesman (and I'm pretty sure it was a man) mendaciously
lying to the rightfully skeptical (and eventually vindicated) Time reporter:

It's unclear whether the video shows an actual game overlaid onto a real-world
office space or just an artistic rendering of what the game might look like in
the future. The way the gun rests so realistically in the gamer's hand
certainly raises suspicions. _Still, a company spokesperson confirmed to
Gizmodo that the video was authentic._

"This is a game we’re playing around the office right now," Magic Leap wrote
on its official YouTube account.

\----

The game they were playing (and still are) is called FRAUD.

------
md224
> During Campbell’s last four months at Magic Leap, Abovitz—who always had
> been pouty and prone to temper-tantrums, began to dig his heels in even more
> in the face of dissenting ideas and to explode ever more frequently into
> child-like fits of rage, threatening retribution when he didn’t get his way,
> felt betrayed or was portrayed publically in an unfavorable light.

Ugh. It's just depressing how often you see people like this in positions of
power.

~~~
s73ver
Unfortunately, how do you think they got there? Stifling dissent.

------
DonHopkins
Senior Engineer Eric Adams sent out an email December 4, 2015 through a
company email list serv for social activities for Magic Leap employees and
their families, which email bore the subject line, “Board (sic) Wives at home
while you are loving it at the Leap,” which stated:

\----

Hello Leapers:

My wife is starting a Google group outside of the Magic Leap locked domain.

It is called “Magic Leap spouses” and should be findable as such.

[https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/magic-leap-
spouses](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/magic-leap-spouses)

It is sort of a social meeting place for all the spouses that have been
displaced, alone in the daytime and are new to the area, would like to have
lunch with or just to have someone local to hang out with when their
significant other is slaving away at work thru-out the 12-Hr day. Or are they
just nagging you because you moved here?

Please forward this Email to your wife if she would like to get better
acclimated to South Florida. The group is not public and is reasonably private
(by email invite/accept) as to not accidentally disclose any Magic Leap
secrets.

\----

The gender-neutral reference to “spouses” notwithstanding, implicit in the
subject line and the reference to “your wife” is the assumption — which is not
too far from wrong — that all the employees were men with wives who didn’t
work outside the home and were “alone in the daytime.”

\----

------
11thEarlOfMar
This type of allegation is why we enjoy the particular character treatments
portrayed in _Silicon Valley_.

~~~
stuffedBelly
Heck, even that AR mustache startup in season 2 looked more authentic then
Magic Leap's secretive technology.

------
DonHopkins
"Eric Akerman, vice president of IT, is a high school buddy of Abovitz. He is
a loud and outspoken and several misogynistic comments have emanated from his
department and from him."

"Vice president of IT Akerman, on Nov. 8, 2016, told a large group of people
who asked why he voted for Trump that it was 'because Melania is hot.'"

------
hillbillie
Rony Abovitz gets away with corporate murder - most of the reputable senior
executives have fled his his Plantation, Florida Jones town or being sued. He
raised the money to waste on lawsuits, just look at the records and
testimonies - there is no product, just Abovitz's bullshit. He is not capable
of delivering a product. Google made a stupid investment, and with Sundar and
Scott Hassan on their board they are still allowed to run a shit show with
Google's approval. No other startup could pull one like this. Total Magic
Shit.

------
tyingq
The complaint itself is interesting. Lots of inside information on not just
the discrimination issue, but other critical commentary about the company.

One example:

 _" admonitions ignored in favor of her malecolleagues’ assertions that the
images and videos presented on Magic Leap’s website and on YouTube were
“aspirational,” and not Magic Leap’s version of “alternate facts.”"_

~~~
zardo
It didn't occur to me anyone would think those were anything but concepts.

Some videos said they were shot through magic leap technology, presumably they
were. The rest are mock-ups and concepts.

~~~
DonHopkins
The most infamous misleading video that currently claims to be a "concept
video" was originally deceptively titled "Just another day in the office at
Magic Leap" and described as "This is a game we’re playing around the office
right now". Only AFTER they got busted, did Magic Leap retroactively change
the title and description so they were not so blatantly false and misleading.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPMHcanq0xM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPMHcanq0xM)

Before they got busted and white-washed the lies, a skeptical Time magazine
reporter didn't think it looked real, and asked Magic Leap about it directly.
The official Magic Leap company spokesman mendaciously lied to him that "the
video was authentic":

[http://time.com/3752343/magic-leap-video/](http://time.com/3752343/magic-
leap-video/)

It's unclear whether the video shows an actual game overlaid onto a real-world
office space or just an artistic rendering of what the game might look like in
the future. The way the gun rests so realistically in the gamer's hand
certainly raises suspicions. Still, a company spokesperson confirmed to
Gizmodo that the video was authentic.

"This is a game we’re playing around the office right now," Magic Leap wrote
on its official YouTube account.

------
moomin
I know it's settling a lawsuit, but isn't it nice that Magic Leap has actually
done something for once?

More seriously, I'm continually annoyed by this "woman hired to combat sexism"
thing. It's a special case of a scenario plenty of us will recognise: where a
problem with your boss is somehow your problem to sort out.

------
s73ver
You know, it's honestly not that hard to not discriminate like this. I mean, I
tend to do it all day. So why can't they?

~~~
vkou
I think it requires having respect for your co-workers as human beings.

------
fleitz
You can see why they settled. Those documents are brutal and they would have
lost so badly.

~~~
alasdair_
There is also the fact that if the trial went public, she could seriously
damage the company with NON-discrimination claims. For example:

"Campbell also raised concerns that what Magic Leap showed the public in
marketing material was not what the product actually could do—admonitions
ignored in favor of her male colleagues’ assertions that the images and videos
presented on Magic Leap’swebsite and on YouTube were “aspirational,” and not
Magic Leap’s version of “alternate facts.""

That could kill investment. I'd wager her lawyers knew this and it's likely
considered a "good" legal tactic to force a settlement.

