First of all Glassdoor has, in my experience, been full of useless information. From seemingly intentionally depressing compensation information to observing employers frequently having email campaigns soliciting "positive reviews" (and positive ones only) to jump on Glassdoor "because it helps our hiring!" (you're part of the in group, right?)
This kind of suit is particularly concerning because:
1. How could an individual ever expect to stand against a $400M ARR company? (presuming there is a positive correlation between legal spend and outcomes)
2. When companies do this, they're siphoning off profit created by labor, to silence and suppress labor's best interests such as freedom of speech, transparent views into what it's like to work there, freedoms/rights of action and behavior outside the 9-5/cubicle (figuratively speaking).
The machinations of working class control working as designed.
Edit: but I do recognize this is also part of incentives. Companies pay glassdoor, not reviewers. Perhaps we stop using sites incentivized to destroy us?
I really want to see a larger conversation happening over this one day, but all I have are grumblings and ramblings.
Nearly every job I’ve had in the last five years (3) has launched internal campaigns that heavily pushed the “please write us a review on Glassdoor!” Requests. And the language made it pretty clear they only wanted to see the good stuff.
And by heavily I mean I have the distinct memory of counting how many emails I got in a single quarter with reminders that the deadline to send a review was coming up. That number was nine.
Adding to this: on the SAME DAY that my most recent job (a startup in the Northeast) laid off myself and 30% of other staff, we got an email in our personal inboxes asking for Glassdoor reviews, and asking if we’d like to join an “alumni committee” that would go out and do “community events” and other similar outings that the company will almost undoubtedly be using in recruiting posts and imagery.
It left me, someone who is already pretty cynical towards “workplace culture” at work even more cynical about the machinations of “workplace [mono]cultures”
I've seen this happen once, to the point where HR stepped in and said 'no, we don't do this!" to the execs that were pushing this. The irony was delicious.
3. Executives of the company are not going to go to jail to protect the identity of a user. If they get a properly executed subpoena, they will run it by the legal team but if there is no clear problem with it, they will act on it.
This kind of suit is particularly concerning because:
1. How could an individual ever expect to stand against a $400M ARR company? (presuming there is a positive correlation between legal spend and outcomes)
2. When companies do this, they're siphoning off profit created by labor, to silence and suppress labor's best interests such as freedom of speech, transparent views into what it's like to work there, freedoms/rights of action and behavior outside the 9-5/cubicle (figuratively speaking).
The machinations of working class control working as designed.
Edit: but I do recognize this is also part of incentives. Companies pay glassdoor, not reviewers. Perhaps we stop using sites incentivized to destroy us?