upvote
Which most company policies allow in some form. Peer-to-peer is straight forward. Supervisor-subordinate (relevant here) is less tolerated. You just have to disclose it and maybe sign a "love contract."

Parent is oblivious to this and has already made up their mind that these policies don't exist

> The fact the he did it, and that she got promoted seals his fate as a predator in my mind.

reply
I'm very aware that these policies exist, and I'm certain the CEO of Nvidia was also aware. That he decided to circumvent them says all you need to know, really. Even if it's consensual, what happens when she decides she wants to move on from the relationship? What about her peers that didn't receive promotions while she did? This is why these laws exist.
reply
Your hypothetical makes zero sense as your questions have simple yes/no answers.

> Even if it's consensual, what happens when she decides she wants to move on from the relationship?

Then they're no longer in a relationship and still have to follow HR/company policies.

>What about her peers that didn't receive promotions while she did?

Did they follow the company policy (e.g., hiring committee recusal) or not for the promotions?

>This is why these laws exist.

Did the company policies follow employment regulations when setting and enforcing their policy?

reply
The implication here is that they didn't follow company policy or else this wouldn't be an issue. HR would have said, "Yes we're aware of the relationship, all of our policies have been properly followed in relation to it." The fact that we're not hearing that means the answers to all these questions don't have pretty answers.
reply
Well, I guess they should fire her, then.
reply
To be honest, even with those policies, a supervisor-subordinate relationship can be problematic. There is an undeniable power dynamic at play, so even when it looks consensual it's hard to be sure. I'm not saying it wasn't consensual in this case, but when person A can impact the future of person B, person B might feel coerced to "consent".

Anyway, not sure if that's the case here but it's hard to rule out entirely.

reply
I think we can all read between the lines that no such thing existed in this case because he was married.
reply
Interestingly, no!

These policies are intentionally narrowed to workplace conflicts of interest. HR doesn't want to manage morality clauses or stuff outside the workplace.

reply
If you want to have a consensual relationship with someone you need to guarantee they don't work for you somehow first, really.
reply
I think the real world is not that black and white, really... There is nuance in those interactions as well.
reply
No such thing as consensual when saying no to the boss could result in getting fired.
reply
If you go that route you can extrapolate to some absurd degree. Basically any relationship with a power imbalance becomes sexual harassment.
reply
Yes, you can extrapolate, and our society does. This is why ministers aren't supposed to have relationships with their clergy, therapists are not supposed to have relationships with their clients, lawyers, doctors, etc. The list goes on and on.
reply
Can become, yes. Depends a bit on what exactly the nature of the power imbalance is. Which is why there are usually strict rules about relationships with your reports and how to resolve the situation. Like reporting it to HR so the work positions can be shifted in a way to move positions so that there is no longer a reporting relationship between the two.
reply
Congrats you just figured out divorce laws and alimony from first principles.
reply
Wow you are mere inches from understanding the concept of sexual harassment. Keep going!
reply
You mean infantilising adults and denying their agency to feel better about yourself.

Obviously it depends from case to case and there are certain lines that shouldn’t be crossed but otherwise consenting adults should be free to make their own decisions.

reply
So is Huang only allowed to have sex with Lisa Su or something? But even then Nvidia dwarfs AMD in power.
reply
There is always Elon I guess…
reply
100% of his relationships have been with nvidia subordinates and business partners. You realize there are more women on the planet right?
reply
> 100% of his relationships

*that we know of

reply
Got it, that's why I only date girls who meet the following criteria:

* My age, +/- 2 years.

* Comparable emotional and intellectual development.

* Same level of education.

* Earn within 10% of what I earn.

* Total net worth within 10% of mine.

* Muscular, so we're of comparable strength.

* Exact same cultural and ethnic background.

* No chronic diseases or disabilities, since I don't have any and that would be an unfair advantage.

* Read Hacker News just as pathologically frequently, so we both know when to short NVIDIA at approximately the same time.

reply
How do you reconcile "love contracts" [0]?

[0] https://www.woodsrogers.com/insights/publications/this-valen...

reply
I've never worked at any company that used them or heard about them. Instead we take yearly training saying that even flirting with the idea is a cause for immediate termination.

Do you have stats on how common these are? Is it more popular in some non US country maybe?

reply
Your companies had zero tolerance for consensual relationships at the office? Not even married couples? Possible, but the exception because that really constrains your talent base.

Good idea about stats. Please share what you find.

reply
Do you suppose Jensen had a love contract with his subordinate, when the breaking of the news of their extramarital relationship led to a 20% drop in stock and the removal of Jensen as CEO?
reply
You're asking a leading question with flawed premises and assumptions.

1. The subordinate story broke yesterday. The stock dropped 12% (not 20) and recovered half.

2. But for the spy/export control subversion, do you think a CEO would be stepping down for banging a co-worker? LOL...

reply
Considering he was fired it's the other way around. This at most only applies to very small companies or to people at the very bottom on the totem pole.
reply
How do you know the boss initiated?
reply
Yeah. It’s not like being an ultra chad billionaire with great biceps and confident personality is NOT attractive to women. Maybe her husband wasn’t doing it for her (legit feel bad for that man, whoever he is, today).
reply
Everyone loves to jump to this conclusion when I think that should require some heavy evidence.

You could just as easily say she did sexual favors to get a leg-up over more qualified peers and get/maintain her position.

If anything, the fact he got fired seems to imply she has all the power in their relationship being outed. I haven't seen anyone calling for her head.

reply
> could result in getting fired

When did they discover the quid-pro-quo aspect of this particular relationship? The news is moving so fast that I must have missed that part.

reply
If there is an asymmetry in power, hardly consensual.
reply
[dead]
reply