Wait, how is he going down to the level of jerks by pulicly naming and shaming a company? Why do you say that? I just don't understand your rationale. This sounds absurd. Could you elaborate maybe?
Yeah, for some future employers it may seem unprofessional, but I would not want to work for such employers.
On the contrary, I would recommend to consult a lawyer, sue them, write a blog about your case and a company, start a movement in the interests of depressed programmers and involve tech media in all of that. This will have both positive externalities and benefits for OP: more protection for depresssed programmers, less incentives for unethical companies to behave like that, traffic for the OP new blog and possibly several job opportunities.
OP, I consider naming and shaming unethical companies like this to be a preferred course of action if done strategically.
Yeah, sometimes, when organizations are locked into Nash equilibrium and any individual actor can't change rules of the game, in that case naming and shaming is unproductive.
Firing a person who has written about their depression? No excuse. Don't give them a chanche to protect themselves(WTF?!). Destroy the company. Help others like you.
EDIT
OP, I see you deleted the comments with the name of the company. Please don't let it slide. Fight for yourself and for others who are suffering from depression and are being discriminated against.
Can't tell if you are being sarcastic, but just in case you are actually serious, perhaps consider just for a second that the company did not fire him because of his depression.
I'm not saying he's lying, but assume for a moment that he got caught up in the emotion and felt that was the reason they fired him. What if it wasn't? What if it was something else? You are telling this young man to start a revolution against a company that may have no malice in their intentions. Naming/Shaming companies have real effect. This company doesn't seem like a multi-national huge corporation with deep pockets, atleast from their webpage I didn't gather that they were. Publicly shaming them may do real damage to the company and people that work there.
If the person really was discriminated against, then go the legal route, sue them and settle it that way. If he was wronged, then law is on his side. Once you win that lawsuit, then feel free to blog and start a revolution because then you have a guilty party. Right now, its just his word against no one else's word, they can't defend themselves.
See, when you put is this way your advice is sound and I agree with it. And I recommended to name and shame strategically, while consulting a lawyer.
But in the original comment you called naming the company "petty and childish" and insinuated that he is is behaving like a "jerk", while saying that posting on HN is "talking behind others back". The gist of your comment was "move forward" and be generous to the company by allowing them "to defend themselves".
It's childish in that if they did go to court, the company has a stronger case against OP as he publicly named/shamed them. Often in such a case, the company even becomes the victim!
I agree with this. All of the comments about a potential claim OP has against the company assume that he was actually an employee. Perhaps OP can elaborate as to whether he was an employee or not? If he was an independent contractor, then it's a completely different story. Also, by publicly shaming the company, OP also opens himself up for a defamation lawsuit.
I deleted the comments but it doesn't mean I'm not going to fight. I'm just trying to be civilized. Exposing the company could make things more complicated and I don't really want that.
Good, happy to hear that. As someone who was also struggling with a depression, among all other methods I'd like to recommend you to try meditation, yoda and taichi.
Meditation has scientifically proven benefits for people affected with depression and anxiety. Please look into it!
I hope you don't take this the wrong way but this sounds like a much better advice than the one you gave above. I would not have guessed that both comments came from the same person, until I checked the username.
Fisher - thank you for taking the high road, for being brave and starting a great dialogue on what I think is an important topic, and a heart-felt congrats on your upcoming two year anniversary of sobriety. Good on you.
Yeah, for some future employers it may seem unprofessional, but I would not want to work for such employers.
On the contrary, I would recommend to consult a lawyer, sue them, write a blog about your case and a company, start a movement in the interests of depressed programmers and involve tech media in all of that. This will have both positive externalities and benefits for OP: more protection for depresssed programmers, less incentives for unethical companies to behave like that, traffic for the OP new blog and possibly several job opportunities.
OP, I consider naming and shaming unethical companies like this to be a preferred course of action if done strategically.
Yeah, sometimes, when organizations are locked into Nash equilibrium and any individual actor can't change rules of the game, in that case naming and shaming is unproductive.
Firing a person who has written about their depression? No excuse. Don't give them a chanche to protect themselves(WTF?!). Destroy the company. Help others like you.
EDIT OP, I see you deleted the comments with the name of the company. Please don't let it slide. Fight for yourself and for others who are suffering from depression and are being discriminated against.