a thoughtful web.
Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking.   Login or Take a Tour!
comment by lelibertaire

I've kinda seen this shared in a few places. But is there any confirmation or proof?

And ChairmanPao? Really?





kleinbl00  ·  3191 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Here's the bottom line:

Dave Croach applied to be Reddit's community manager several years back - the position had been open for like 18 months. At the time, he was one of /r/gaming's mods.

He was hired - a good fit for a position that had been open far too long. Unfortunately, between his old job and his new he was diagnosed with leukemia.

Reddit put him on their insurance plan, if I understand correctly. I'm not sure they were paying him. Dave made the right choice between "reddit" and "beat cancer" and went through a lot of health stuff. Unfortunate for Dave, unfortunate for Reddit because it still didn't have a community manager.

Dave came back, sort-of in remission, right about the time for the Violentacrez catastrophe. His health problems hadn't abated and he'd been away from Reddit for a good long while. In between his health issues and the general miasma of incompetence surrounding Reddit, he ended up not being a particularly effective community manager. His responsibilities were passed along to others while he proceeded to tend to his health.

That's what I know. What it sounds like happened is the board decided that they did not have a fiduciary responsibility to an employee that had been out more than in. I have never seen a Reddit employee contract. I suspect they aren't particularly beneficial.

He's a good guy. I've probably talked to him on chat for three-four hours and on the phone at least two. However, he was never given the tools or authority to affect real change and his health issues substantially curtailed his involvement with the community. It's doubly unfortunate as Dave was busy fighting for his life and Reddit felt no obligation to get their community relations in order because the position was technically filled.

Shatto  ·  3191 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Then isn't it technically viable and legal for them to let go of someone who isn't able to do the work so they can find someone who can?

kleinbl00  ·  3191 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Probably. I think the thing that's got the pitchforks out is the whole "you said I could come back and then you changed your mind" aspect of it all.

Again - I have no horse in this race.

lelibertaire  ·  3191 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Good post. Thanks for the information.

I just tend to take things with a grain of salt when there's so much tension in the Reddit community and people are taking shots at each other.

More apt to take this claim seriously now.

user-inactivated  ·  3191 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    ChairmanPao? Really?

It's Reddit's meme. I think Hubski just somehow appropriated it.

Outset  ·  3190 days ago  ·  link  ·  

It was picked up by a link archive website prior to the AMA's deletion, which was linked in the description. The AMA itself was deleted very quickly, likely due to pressure from Reddit employees, legal reasons, or Chairman Pao herself.