[dalbasal]

Here's an analogy. You can get fired for always being late to work, but not get fired for bad behaviour (even crime) outside of work... say drunk driving.

This doesn't mean that being late to work is worse than drunk driving, or that person A is worse than person B. Not everything is a general judgement on worth or character.

[ible]

I don't think that analogy applies. Both parties in this story did things in a 'work' context.

If I go on a work forum and describe my bad behaviour, behaviour that is harmful to others, and advocate for others to do it, I'm going to get in trouble, and possibly fired.

If I publicly discuss private work information, I'll definitely get fired.

If I mention the bad behaviour of someone at work publicly, without naming names, I might get a talking to, but probably won't be fired.

How a group reacts to those different things over time defines the norms and culture of the group.

[dalbasal]

Fair point.

I still think the conclusion applies though. Not everything is a judgment on overall worth or character. Most rules exist for banal reasons. Arrive on time, so we can open on time. Maintain confidentiality, so that we can have a non public forum. If heated arguments are settled by going to twitter, that's a cultural norm that negates private forums. It's not a moral norm, necessarily, but an operational one.

Very few things are absolute though. If someone brags about murder, and that confidentiality is maintained then it certainly does say something about norms and culture of a group. That said, naughtiness is an explicit part of YC culture, for better or worse.

In any case, sometimes there are choices. Civil disobedience can lead to consequences, to make another analogy. People participating in it accept that.

IDK what actually happened on the private forum, but I imagine this is an argument that spilled out from private to public. If Paul considered this a "the world must know" situation, then maybe he considers the price worth paying.

[paxys]

I have yet to see an actual source for this "bad behaviour, behaviour that is harmful to others, and advocate for others to do it" part.

[ible]

Though based on dasickis comment, it seems there may not have been bad behaviour in the first place.

[bdowling]

That is not a good analogy because most people's employment is "at will", meaning that they can be fired at any time for any reason other than discrimination against a protected class or retaliation for some protected activity (e.g., being a government whistleblower). If an employer wants to fire an employee who got arrested for drunk driving outside of work, that's usually not a problem.

[dylan604]

>say drunk driving.

Unless of course, your job is driving.