Microsoft worker denied paid leave for brain surgery

[vmpolesov]

Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer don't have enough money!

A 10-year Navy veteran, 11-year microsoft employee comes down with a brain tumor. does microsoft help this employee? no, they kick him in the teeth, give him a bad 'performance rating' (which are usually political and not performance by the way), and oh by the way, disability insurance is linked to performance ratings (wtf?), so now they will not pay his disability while he gets surgery. He is facing the likely loss of his house.

http://www.king5.com/news/local/Microsoft-worker-denied-paid-leave-for-brain-surgery-120323299.html

[Name removed]

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[Incitatus]

7. This is the first time I've read it.

And I didn't know I could have a lower opinion of Microsoft. Maybe Bill Gates didn't know about this situation, but now with it in the news he will. Let's see what happens.

[vmpolesov]

14. I wouldn't count on it

Even if Gates does, he's only doing it for PR reasons because this story made it to the media. If this story HADN'T made it to the media, this guy would be screwed. The fact it got this far demonstrates the true character of microsoft management. Anything they do retroactively is just whitewashing.

Gates & Ballmer will happily continue worshipping the Jack Welch school of management and 'differentiated rewards'. After all, he got a 'bad performance rating' so he must not be worthy!

Note: in personal experience, performance ratings at large dysfunctional companies like microsoft are completely uncorrelated from performance. they are political.

[snagglepuss]

15. "performance ratings at dysfunctional companies like microsoft are completely uncorrelated from

performance. they are political."


100% correct.

[Kurovski]

28. Oh! that's why it was deleted from a thread, I couldn't understand why it vanished

I thought the new guy was banned. Glad to see Mr./Ms. V is still here.

[JonLP24]

33. +1

[AtheistCrusader]

48. Gates hasn't worked at MSFT for years, by the way.

[Incitatus]

52. It looks like he only owns about 13% of the stock now. I was not aware of that.

Ballmer is the man in charge now. However, surely Gates still has enough influence to have the right thing done with a single phone call if is hears about this story. It's just sickening to see a corporation that makes billions treat one it its employees like this. Of course, there is nothing uncommon about what is being done here in corporate America.

[RamboLiberal]

63. +1 same here

[pnwmom]

46. I've never seen this story. And if true it's disgraceful. n/t

[McCamy Taylor]

61. More spam! Microsoft sucks (and makes a bad product, too).

[drm604]

2. K&R

This needs lots of publicity.

[vmpolesov]

5. kernighan & ritchie?

kernighan & ritchie?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

6. Kick and recommend.

[drm604]

18. In this context, K&R means Kicked and Recommended, as CaliforniaPeggy pointed out.

The funny thing is, I'm one of the probably small minority on here who gets the Kernighan & Ritchie reference.

[surrealAmerican]

32. Don't be so sure.

There are a lot of us old programmers on DU.

[Crabby Appleton]

34. 1++

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. Oh, they have the money, all right.

They just don't want to pay it to him.

Really disgusting. What a terrific way to reward a hard-working and talented employee.

[vmpolesov]

8. just be a good little corporate serf

and strive not to earn the disfavor of your overlords, and all will be taken care of!

Darwin vmpolesovs-mac-mini.local 9.8.0 Darwin Kernel Version 9.8.0: Wed Jul 15 16:55:01 PDT 2009; root:xnu-1228.15.4~1/RELEASE_I386 i386

[CaliforniaPeggy]

9. What is this:

Darwin vmpolesovs-mac-mini.local 9.8.0 Darwin Kernel Version 9.8.0: Wed Jul 15 16:55:01 PDT 2009; root:xnu-1228.15.4~1/RELEASE_I386 i386

:shrug:

[vmpolesov]

10. it's my way of showing I don't use microsoft products

It's the operating system version on my Mac!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

11. I see. Thank you...

[REP]

31. Jeez, upgrade already :-)

Leopard on a Mac Mini. Snow Leopard has been our for a while - it's worth it just for Quick Look! :hi:

[vmpolesov]

12. read the comments at king5.com

coworkers wanted to donate unused leave to him and guess what....

Microsoft HR said "No".

Good grief, I can't even fully comprehend the heartlessness of these people.

[Kurovski]

13. K&R. (nt)

[upi402]

16. Gates has been out a while now

But yeah, pretty cold.

[Missy Vixen]

17. This will be on every media source in Seattle in less than 24 hours

This is a public relations nightmare for MSFT, especially when they trumpeted all over all media today that Microsoft employees all got a raise...

:woohoo:

[vmpolesov]

19. I wish!

Missy, unfortunately the story seems to be languishing! I'm dumbfounded.

[vmpolesov]

20. how else can I get the word out?

I'm completely ignorant about things like twitter and facebook (ironic considering I work in computers).

[gateley]

57. We need to deluge KING and ask for follow-up -- they're usually pretty good

about that. Unless, of course, they're a recipient of Microsoft's largesse (which doesn't extend to its employees apparently).

[vmpolesov]

21. the freaking story is three days old!

I can't believe it hasn't gotten past the local news!

[TheCanadianLiberal]

22. ANTI-MS

This post was made on Ubuntu on a piece of hardware that never got infected by Windows or any microsoft product.

I haven't used anything by them since....well....ever.

[vmpolesov]

24. I feel the same way

100% Macs and Linux at my place.

[area51]

23. Also,

the absolute insanity of tying access to health care to your job.

We need Medicare part E for everyone, and a beefed-up Medicare.

[vmpolesov]

27. Well, let's engage in a thought experiment here.

Well, let's engage in a thought experiment here. Let's say Mr. Knightley is not an 'underperformer', and the unsatisfactory performance rating was political, not performance-related. Lesson: make the wrong political enemies at work and your access to health care can be cut off!

[tammywammy]

37. His access to health care hasn't been cut off. n/t

[suffragette]

38. + 1,000,000

[Obamanaut]

25. I just read the article at the link provided in the OP. I did not see any

mention of the man being a Navy veteran.

Was it in the video? I have dial-up, and don't get to watch those.

[vmpolesov]

26. check out his linkedin.com profile

http://www.linkedin.com/in/kennethknightley

"Ken Knightley served 10+ years for the United States Navy working on the Trident I Ballistic Missile Submarines."

[Obamanaut]

30. That wasn't part of the article was it?

Was all this part of the spam scam from last night?

[Starry Messenger]

29. But Bill Gates is curing malaria!!!111

:sarcasm: Just making sure to get that in before the Bill Gates fanclub shows up.

[footinmouth]

35. Perhaps it's a sign -

Right in the middle of reading this thread my nice little Win XP Netbook got the blue screen of death.

[OhioChick]

36. And this surprises you? n/t

[Bennyboy]

39. Wonder if a UNION could have helped him?

Of course. Even at a company such as MS unions will see that workers are not screwed over by their employers.

[vmpolesov]

42. Well, how would microsoft employees go about forming a union?

I bet if they tried, microsoft would retaliate by shutting down entire divisions. Articles would appear in the press about how the 'entitled greedy workers' had just 'screwed themselves out of their jobs' by attempting to unionize. Sure the employees could complain to the NLRB but that would take YEARS! In the meantime, they are out a job.

[Bennyboy]

47. Well all of that is HIGHLY ILLEGAL...

Right to organize is pretty clear.

[vmpolesov]

50. how much justice can you afford?

The 'shut down the division and stall' tactic has worked for other companies.

[libmom74]

40. You should see

the Gates mansion on Lake Washington. The guy has more money than God, there is no fucking excuse for this.

[vmpolesov]

43. Bill Gates doesn't have enough money!

Paying disability to an 11-year microsoft employee who has suffered some personal misfortune would affect his bottom line.

[Terra Alta]

41. Micro$oft is no better than Wal-mart and other big corporations

screw their employees; they are only for the bottom line.

[Exilednight]

44. k/r

[FormerDittoHead]

45. Maybe not so bad considering who "popped up" in surgery rotation...

It's serious, I know, but I just had to take a stab at Microsoft.



.

[demosincebirth]

49. He should get state disability. Its not much, ( 500. a wk) but its something

[ChromeFoundry]

51. Par for most companies...

Microsoft is no different than other greedy companies.

But... better believe if Ballmer got an ailment that wouldn't allow him to feed his face, he'd be compensated. I'm certain that Job's is getting his!

[Buzz Clik]

53. Who do you find more sympathetic about this story: DUers or Freepers?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2708943/posts

[vmpolesov]

55. similar

in both cases, a mix of responses such as "those SOBs!" and "well that's how it is"

[catrose]

54. I heard recently than when Paul Allen got ill--

he was one of Gates' original partners--he heard Gates plotting to grab Allen's shares if Allen died. If that's how Bill treats his partners, how can anyone else expect anything else.

But I've never heard of an HR refusing to let other people donate their time to a sick coworker.

[gateley]

56. It's good this got local coverage -- but this is the first I've heard of it. There are

PAGES of responses, so this got a lot of attention. I'm hopeful this might help Ken and cause MSFT to review this policy.

[crazy homeless guy]

58. I wonder if my company would give me paid leave for brain surgery?

...everyone is blaming MS for this, but is it common business practice to give employees paid leave beyond their allotted PTO? Does your company do it? I am not sure mine does. MS isn't really the one to blame here, it is a larger system problem.

[vmpolesov]

60. MS supposedly provides short-term disability

UNLESS, as in this case, they decide you are not worthy for 'performance reasons'.

[gateley]

62. No argument that it's the system, but I would like to think that a devoted 11 year

employee of one of the most successful companies in the world could swing something. They're certainly used to breaking "rules" for their own benefit, they could extend that savvy to a worker.

I don't have insurance. I hope yours makes some provision for such a serious illness/treatment/surgery. :hi:

[dkf]

59. Isn't this what short term disability is for?

Are we the only state that mandates 6 months short term disability?