
Wait...
...so $1,000 bonuses are paid in cash? That some kind of tax dodge? In the UK at least such bonuses would go through payroll and be taxable (as they are, after all, taxable income)
Google has sacked Randy Wigginton — a software engineer who was employee number six at Apple — for leaking Eric Schmidt's memo announcing a company-wide pay raise and bonus, according to a report citing a "well-placed source close to Google." Gawker reports that Wigginton is "widely believed within the company to be the fired …
> ... Google was also going to pay the tax. (Which I suppose would also be taxed...
It's pretty simple really. If you want to give a "full" $1000 bonus then you actually give, e.g. $1600, and the net, after taxes is $1000.
Did they pay it out in cold hard cash? I don't know, but they might have done it for the novelty factor. That doesn't seem too far fetched.
He was employee number six at Apple? Distinguished Engineer at eBay? One of the Oompaloompas at Google? I'd wager he's got plenty of dough and probably works because he likes to, not because he needs to.
Big company gives out bonus money ... in cash? In the US? Even in my country where cash is common, most bonus/rewards are made by direct deposit or by cheque. I actually consider the "cash out" culture common in Mexico a stupid idea, because it is precisely the kind of thinking that leads to you being mugged for that cash.
If you are specifically asked by your employer NOT to do something, multiple time, and then you do it anyway, that's gross misconduct, and therefor a sackable offence. I would certainly have no hesitation is removing the obviously untrustworthy person from the company. This is not a case of whistleblowing, which is a different kettle of fish. This is simply giving out private company news to a third party.
He, sadly for him, got what he deserved.
This thread is absolutely amazing. I doubt you'd find any sane person assert that Google is trustworthy in the least, yet for some reason you people blindly trust them when they say they warned this employee repeatedly?
Yes, because a large multinational corporation known to commit evil would never, ever lie about internal politics, now would they?
If there is one thing we know about weird crazy but very talented lumber jacks with a resume of who’s who in gadget and tech toys- eventually the fun and weirdness that is you stops to be fun (sorry Randy- you were just too rare a species to love unconditionally) and the first chance the brass get to send you back to your derelict ways is the first day your linkedin account says ex instead of current employee. Never mind Randy, you can now go get that job selling self destructive tin mines deep in the forest.
http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2010/11/randy-wigginton-wants-to-tell-you-its-never-a-good-idea-to-leak-an-imminent-google-pay-raise/