Maybe here the best is to wait a bit for the WMF to come with a response, before piling on - unless you actually have information to contribute. Pile-on threads seem to lead these days to the original questions being ignored/forgotten about.
Lodewijk On Fri, Jan 8, 2016 at 11:33 PM, Todd Allen <toddmal...@gmail.com> wrote: > Now this is something that's worthy of being dismissed (involuntarily, if > necessary) from the WMF board. This individual clearly does not meet our > community values of transparency and honesty, or at least such is in > serious question. > > Is the Board considering doing so, or reading this at all? It's really time > to open up, not close the ranks. > > On Fri, Jan 8, 2016 at 3:17 PM, Kevin Gorman <kgor...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > You'll find the allegations to be true, Dariusz. Although the link > > provided was just to Pando, the internal email from Arnnon was released > by > > court order - and the entire anti-solicitation fiasco has been fairly > > widely covered in the US tech news. I knew I recognized Arnnon's name > from > > somewhere, I just didn't remember where immediately. It recently resulted > > in a $435 million settlement for employees of the the companies involved > > due to lost competitive wages. There's also an ongoing shareholder > lawsuit > > about it still. Besides the news coverage, really, the damning thing is > > just the direct emails. They were unsealed by the judge and a copy is > > hosted here: > > > https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/1019489/google-email-chain.pdf > > - > > although you can also get a copy from PACER if you want a 100% verified > > one. > > > > They show in Arnnon's own words that (a) he's willing to participate in > an > > illegal anti-solicitation agreement, and (b) he's willing to > > instantaneously fire any employee who violates that illegal > > anti-solicitation agreement. I know WMF has benefited from it's > > relationship with Google historically... but in terms of board members, I > > really think we need people who are not just talented but who uphold the > > values of the movement - and I don't think Arnnon's behavior as covered > in > > the media and in the case filings do that. Also, since we're appointing > a > > fiduciary, it seems like it might not be the best idea to appoint a > > fiduciary whose actions at another company were part of a chain of > actions > > that resulted in a $435 million settlement. That's a lot of Jimmyeyes > from > > the corner of my screen. > > > > I'm additionally kind of worried because... this really should have come > up > > in background vetting of potential board members. Since there's > > information explicitly about it within the first couple pages of any > search > > engine, this suggests that the process involved in vetting potential > board > > members didn't involve digging deep in to their backgrounds at all. > Hiring > > for pretty much *any* position should normally involve at least a cursory > > scan of the internet to see if they are, say, a wanted fugitive, or > > participated in illegal anti-competitive behavior like this in the past > to > > the point that it resulted in a settlement that large (and that is just > for > > the employees of the companies involved, several shareholder lawsuits are > > ongoing.) > > > > Here's a recent lawsuit from shareholders related to it. Keep in mind > that > > these are just allegations by the shareholders, but they're pretty well > > supported by the court-ordered released emails - > > http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Googpoach.pdf - > and > > a > > class action by employees of the companies involved recently settled for > > $435 million in lost competitive wages due to the illegal > anti-solicitation > > agreement. > > > > "Defendant Arnnon Geshuri (“Geshuri”) has served as Google’s Director of > > Recruiting at all times relevant to this lawsuit. Defendant Geshuri was > > involved in developing and perpetuating the illegal collusive scheme > > alleged herein. Defendant Geshuri knowingly, recklessly, or with gross > > negligence: (i) oversaw the creation of the protocols governing > > anticompetitive hiring agreements between Google and other companies; > (ii) > > caused or allowed Google to enter into such illegal anticompetitive > > agreements; (iii) allowed Defendants Page, Brin, and Schmidt to dominate > > and control the Google Board of Directors with little or no effective > > oversight; and (iv) failed to implement adequate internal controls to > > ensure that Google complied with federal laws and regulations" > > > > Even though those are allegations from an unsettled shareholder lawsuit, > > since the employee class action was settled for $435m and there are > > extensive details of what went on in the settement documents, I'd give > that > > paragraph a bit more credence than I would a paragraph from an average > > unsettled lawsuit. I'm sure that Arnnon is personally skilled, I just > > really don't feel that his behavior as described in the settled class > > action/documents related to it/the general news media is in line with the > > values of the Wikimedia movement. > > > > Best, > > Kevin Gorman > > > > On Fri, Jan 8, 2016 at 12:43 PM, Dariusz Jemielniak <dar...@alk.edu.pl> > > wrote: > > > > > On Fri, Jan 8, 2016 at 3:16 PM, Pine W <wiki.p...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > > Dariusz, you said in your statement that was published in the > Wikimedia > > > > Blog that WMF "considered dozens of candidates from all over the > world, > > > > with not-for-profit and technology experience, and the highest > > > professional > > > > standards.” I would be interested to hear how you reconcile "highest > > > > professional standards" with the prior actions of Arnnon, > > > > > > > > > > I have read about these allegations today, and I am going to follow up > on > > > that. I don't have an opinion formed, as jumping to conclusions is > > > definitely not just to people. I can assure you that in the whole > process > > > Arnnon's expertise, professionalism, as well as technological > connection > > > were clearly outstanding (but obviously we have not discussed this > case). > > > > > > best, > > > > > > dariusz > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > > > > __________________________ > > > prof. dr hab. Dariusz Jemielniak > > > kierownik katedry Zarządzania Międzynarodowego > > > i grupy badawczej NeRDS > > > Akademia Leona Koźmińskiego > > > http://n <http://www.crow.alk.edu.pl/>wrds.kozminski.edu.pl > > > > > > członek Akademii Młodych Uczonych Polskiej Akademii Nauk > > > członek Komitetu Polityki Naukowej MNiSW > > > > > > Wyszła pierwsza na świecie etnografia Wikipedii "Common Knowledge? An > > > Ethnography of Wikipedia" (2014, Stanford University Press) mojego > > > autorstwa http://www.sup.org/book.cgi?id=24010 > > > > > > Recenzje > > > Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/fdc/welcome_mjx.shtml > > > Pacific Standard: > > > > > > http://www.psmag.com/navigation/books-and-culture/killed-wikipedia-93777/ > > > Motherboard: > > http://motherboard.vice.com/read/an-ethnography-of-wikipedia > > > The Wikipedian: > > > > http://thewikipedian.net/2014/10/10/dariusz-jemielniak-common-knowledge > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > > > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > > > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
