Former Valve Employee Is Suing The Company For $3.1M

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A lawsuit has been filed against Valve by a former employee claiming wrongful termination. According to the article, the ex-employee is seeking $1 million for general damages, $1 million for loss of earnings, $1 million for special damages, and another $150k for unpaid wages. Valve has denied all allegations.

The employee, who is only identified by her initials, was primarily a Spanish translator. Prior to 2012, the then-employee requested to work remotely from Los Angeles, where she would be undergoing gender reassignment surgery. Valve accommodated this request so she could work from home due to this as well as depression and "other socialisation issues" she was suffering from.
 
Oh my god, this shit makes me sick. You should be able to fire anyone for anything at anytime. Same as I can quit for any reason. Can you imagine if an employer could sue you for wrongful resignation?
 
Nukester said:
Let's find a Spanish Translator who makes that much. wow. Everyone speaks Spanish these days, who needs a translator.
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I don't speak Spanish, and a lot of Spanish speaking people don't speak English, which is usually the reason for a translator.

Anyway, this person seems like "she?" was very difficult to work with.
 
DukenukemX said:
I don't speak Spanish, and a lot of Spanish speaking people don't speak English, which is usually the reason for a translator.

Anyway, this person seems like "she?" was very difficult to work with.
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I guess that's a way to make a few million. Be a jerk at work, get fired, file a lawsuit.

TBH, there are enough bi-lingual people that this sort of job should be a lower paying position.
 
Whatever happened $3m seems way too high.

From the information given in the article, it's hard to tell if Valve employees were being jerks because the Spanish translator was transgender, or they were simply angry at the Spanish translator for being out of commission for four years.

I probably wouldn't make it on this jury.
 
CA is a right to work state....and employer can fire/lay off anyone at anytime for no reason....I am guessing the transgender angle is being added to show discrimination....she probably had depression,gender dysphoria,anger issues from the HRT therapy and more.
 
TheToE! said:
Oh my god, this shit makes me sick. You should be able to fire anyone for anything at anytime. Same as I can quit for any reason. Can you imagine if an employer could sue you for wrongful resignation?
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No you shouldn't be able to fire anyone for anything at anytime. That would be idiotic.

Scenario 1: My kid brother needs your job. Security will escort you out.
Scenario 2: Congrats on the pregnancy! Please leave your keycard on the way out.
Scenario 3: Heard you had cancer. Good luck finding a new job!
Scenario 4: Family killed in car accident? You probably won't be very productive for the next little bit. Please pack up your things and head to the nearest window ledge.
Scenario 5: Too fat / Gay / Ugly! See you later.

I could go on but I think I've made my point.
 
NeoNemesis said:
No you shouldn't be able to fire anyone for anything at anytime. That would be idiotic.

Scenario 1: My kid brother needs your job. Security will escort you out. - Not illegal. If you are a small business, you have a right to source from your own family if it supports your family.
Scenario 2: Congrats on the pregnancy! Please leave your keycard on the way out. - Illegal already
Scenario 3: Heard you had cancer. Good luck finding a new job! - Illegal already
Scenario 4: Family killed in car accident? You probably won't be very productive for the next little bit. Please pack up your things and head to the nearest window ledge. - Protected under FMLA
Scenario 5: Too fat / Gay / Ugly! See you later. - looks are important in some industries. Supreme court said that if looks are a key part of your job, yes you can be fired or forced to wear revealing clothing.
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*added amendments to your above statements.

There's a reason there are at-will* states...Union BS makes it hard for imcompetent people to get fired. This is what caused a number of companies to move to at-will* & right to work states where you CAN hire anyone or be fired for any reason...that isn't already protected by law.

[edit]*thanks Tawnos
 
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Kibbles said:
CA is a right to work state....and employer can fire/lay off anyone at anytime for no reason....I am guessing the transgender angle is being added to show discrimination....she probably had depression,gender dysphoria,anger issues from the HRT therapy and more.
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At-will employment, not right to work. :)
 
DigitalGriffin said:
*added amendments to your above statements.

There's a reason there are right to work states...Union BS makes it hard for imcompetent people to get fired. This is what caused a number of companies to move to right to work states where you CAN be fired for any reason...that isn't already protected by law.
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I understand, but the contention made in the previous post was that there should be no laws governing employment. I was merely highlighting what might occur in such a scenario.
 
All of my jobs have had me sign a contract saying I could be let go at any time, no reason required. If I get fired, can I sue? I'm cheap - I'm only going to ask for a million.
I wonder if they are planning on Valve settling out of court for a much lower amount to save on legal fees?
 
This is interesting, assuming the article and claims are correct.

1. Reclassification from employee to contractor, would like to know more about this angle.
2. Her supervisor leading along people for free work, what was the motivation for this? Did he not have headcount to make up for he/her not being a full time employee? I think regardless of the reason, if true Valve should probably get rid of this guy.
3. Replacing he/her with someone local, and not offering the position when she offered to move, sounds like them wanting a guilt free way of firing her and it going south.
4. PTSD, please, I have a hard time believing that. PTSD gets thrown around WAY too often by people in court cases trying to justify a payout, when it was created in relation to traumatic events like war, rape, and major physical injury.

It seems like this person probably was a PITA to work with, but some of the above could be interesting if delved into.
 
britjh22 said:
This is interesting, assuming the article and claims are correct.

1. Reclassification from employee to contractor, would like to know more about this angle.
2. Her supervisor leading along people for free work, what was the motivation for this? Did he not have headcount to make up for he/her not being a full time employee? I think regardless of the reason, if true Valve should probably get rid of this guy.
3. Replacing he/her with someone local, and not offering the position when she offered to move, sounds like them wanting a guilt free way of firing her and it going south.
4. PTSD, please, I have a hard time believing that. PTSD gets thrown around WAY too often by people in court cases trying to justify a payout, when it was created in relation to traumatic events like war, rape, and major physical injury.

It seems like this person probably was a PITA to work with, but some of the above could be interesting if delved into.
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PTSD not real here? What? People were MEAN to her... She probably has night terrors because of it and curls into a ball at the mere sound of a mean persons voice.... God my generation is embarrassing... So many fragile butthurt snowflakes that can't handle the god damn real world and think it should bend for them, or pay them if it doesn't... And with this college safe space bullshit, the next generation is going to be MUCH worse. 'You glanced in my direction and it made me uncomfortable. I can no longer work here and am lawyering up to sue the company for 3.1 million dollars for allowing this kind of conduct...'
 
Biznatch said:
PTSD not real here? What? People were MEAN to her... She probably has night terrors because of it and curls into a ball at the mere sound of a mean persons voice.... God my generation is embarrassing... So many fragile butthurt snowflakes that can't handle the god damn real world and think it should bend for them, or pay them if it doesn't... And with this college safe space bullshit, the next generation is going to be MUCH worse. 'You glanced in my direction and it made me uncomfortable. I can no longer work here and am lawyering up to sue the company for 3.1 million dollars for allowing this kind of conduct...'
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As a fellow young person (early 20s), I see myself as a trangenerational. I don't identify with my generation.
 
A spanish tranny got upset that they were fired for being a social outcast and treated poorly.

my shocked face is on vacation.
 
From what I know of Valve and how it treats its employees, I find this very hard to believe. I know it's not party-at-Gabe's all the time but I'd also like to think that if you're doing your job and doing it well, you aren't going to get canned from a company like Valve. Maybe I'm just not aware of some stuff, but to me, Valve comes off as one of those companies where you REALLY have to fuck up in order to get canned.
 
britjh22 said:
This is interesting, assuming the article and claims are correct.

1. Reclassification from employee to contractor, would like to know more about this angle.
Click to expand...

If Valve doesn't have an office in LA where the employee wanted to work from they may have allowed the employee to be remote. It might not be that unreasonable to classify a remote employee as an independent contractor
 
steakman1971 said:
All of my jobs have had me sign a contract saying I could be let go at any time, no reason required. If I get fired, can I sue? I'm cheap - I'm only going to ask for a million.
I wonder if they are planning on Valve settling out of court for a much lower amount to save on legal fees?
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Even if they made you sign a contract....you can still sue because no legal contract, in a business sense, can make you sign your rights away. There are few contracts which do allow this (e.g. military), but those are rare exceptions.
 
Kibbles said:
CA is a right to work state....and employer can fire/lay off anyone at anytime for no reason....I am guessing the transgender angle is being added to show discrimination....she probably had depression,gender dysphoria,anger issues from the HRT therapy and more.
Click to expand...

And just like most of "them", is still Angry/Depress/Unhappy after all the alterations. This is what happens when you use pills & surgery to address psychological problems.
 
NeoNemesis said:
No you shouldn't be able to fire anyone for anything at anytime. That would be idiotic.

Scenario 1: My kid brother needs your job. Security will escort you out.
Scenario 2: Congrats on the pregnancy! Please leave your keycard on the way out.
Scenario 3: Heard you had cancer. Good luck finding a new job!
Scenario 4: Family killed in car accident? You probably won't be very productive for the next little bit. Please pack up your things and head to the nearest window ledge.
Scenario 5: Too fat / Gay / Ugly! See you later.

I could go on but I think I've made my point.
Click to expand...

Any company that would fire you for any of the above reasons isn't worth working for. You would be better off finding another job.

A year ago I had some medical issues that caused me to be in & out of work for several weeks.
Did my company fire me? No. They were flexible, allowing me to work from home and gradually work back up to coming into the office.
Why? Because I'm a valuable employee. Besides, they would likely have to hire 2 people to replace me, and it would cost them a lot more :p
 
ryno9100 said:
As a fellow young person (early 20s), I see myself as a trangenerational. I don't identify with my generation.
Click to expand...
Born too late to explore the earth,
Born too early to explore the universe,
But born just in time to browse dank memes
 
SamuraiInBlack said:
From what I know of Valve and how it treats its employees, I find this very hard to believe. I know it's not party-at-Gabe's all the time but I'd also like to think that if you're doing your job and doing it well, you aren't going to get canned from a company like Valve. Maybe I'm just not aware of some stuff, but to me, Valve comes off as one of those companies where you REALLY have to fuck up in order to get canned.
Click to expand...

I never worked for Valve, but I did work for a company that was/is constantly on Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For, and it was the most miserable job I've ever had. I hated working there, hated waking up every day going to work there, etc. One thing to take into consideration is that while a company might have a certain culture, that culture can vary widely depending upon your position in the company. You can lose out in the position lottery, and be stuck with a bad boss, coworkers, etc. that aren't like the rest of the company.

kbrickley said:
If Valve doesn't have an office in LA where the employee wanted to work from they may have allowed the employee to be remote. It might not be that unreasonable to classify a remote employee as an independent contractor
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I'm guessing for legal reasons this might not be a possibility, but then again, I'm not a lawyer, so don't listen to me on this. Outside of the obscene amount of money, the article actually sounded fairly legitimate in terms of complaint. You become an independent contractor, and you lose all your benefits. Companies do try to screw over their employees. But as for wrongful termination? There are ways around that. I don't like you because you're black, gay, old, transgender, etc.? Fine. I won't fire you because of that. I'll just set you up to fail. That happens all the time. Just give the employee impossible deadlines, unreasonable workloads, dull tedious tasks, etc. to make them look bad. Voila, we're firing them because they're a bad employee.
 
Shit like this just makes it that much more difficult for minorities (be it race/sex/age/etc) to find work. It's a sad fact, but if you were running a company, would you take a chance on a candidate that was more likely to sue you if fired for under performing?
 
I think one of the comments on the article put it perfectly. Comments should be disabled for stuff like this. There's barely any evidence in that article as to what really went on that from here on out it's just speculation.
 
NeoNemesis said:
No you shouldn't be able to fire anyone for anything at anytime. That would be idiotic.

Scenario 1: My kid brother needs your job. Security will escort you out.
Scenario 2: Congrats on the pregnancy! Please leave your keycard on the way out.
Scenario 3: Heard you had cancer. Good luck finding a new job!
Scenario 4: Family killed in car accident? You probably won't be very productive for the next little bit. Please pack up your things and head to the nearest window ledge.
Scenario 5: Too fat / Gay / Ugly! See you later.

I could go on but I think I've made my point.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately in a right to work state you can in fact be fired for ANY reason. You just can't fire someone for any protected legal attributes, like your gender. However, that will not, and doesn't stop, companies from doing so. What they do is they find any stupid miniscule reason to fire you, and they can and will. Punched in late by 3 minutes six years ago? You're fired. Everybody has SOMETHING no matter how tiny that they can be fired for. Even If the company is firing you for you having cancer but they mask it as something else, they can get away with it. The problem is that you would have to be able to PROVE beyond a reasonable doubt that they fired you for having cancer. Unfortunately most people don't have the money and legal resources to fight that and therefore don't. Shit happens all the time.
 
More than likely Valve tried their best to accommodate "it", but they probably were slacking while working in another state and/or their surgery ended up taking too big of a toll on their duties. Person jumps on lawsuit due to odd gender identity crisis looking for some quick cash.
 
Maybe its the base salary plus all the commission missed for potential hats that could have been made?
 
nutzo said:
Any company that would fire you for any of the above reasons isn't worth working for. You would be better off finding another job.

A year ago I had some medical issues that caused me to be in & out of work for several weeks.
Did my company fire me? No. They were flexible, allowing me to work from home and gradually work back up to coming into the office.
Why? Because I'm a valuable employee. Besides, they would likely have to hire 2 people to replace me, and it would cost them a lot more :p
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That just sounds like they like you because you come cheap and do more work than you need to.
 
I hope the transformer not only loses but has to cover Valve's court costs if any.
 
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