*Joseph Thomas had actually turned down an offer at Apple to come to work for Uber six months ago.
Formerly at LinkedIn, his reason wasn’t so much the $170K salary he’d receive, but he thought he would be able to grow at a faster pace, and benefit from the company’s stock options once they went public.
I doubt seriously suicide from the stress of Uber’s workplace culture was even on his radar. Yet that is exactly what happened when one afternoon, his wife Zecole, came home to find her husband sitting in his car in the garage, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. She decided to get in on the passenger side to talk, and that’s when she saw the blood.
Joseph had shot himself. Two days later he died in the hospital. Now the widow has filed a Worker’s Compensation claim and is blaming Uber for her husband’s mental distress.
Joseph, a brilliant engineer, and one of the few African American techies (according to Uber’s first diversity report released in March, Blacks account for 1 percent of its tech workers and none of its tech leaders) had talked to his family about the depression that had set in because of his job. The family even encouraged him to seek professional help. He admitted to the psychiatrist that he felt anxious, had trouble sleeping, and even feared losing his job.
His family and friends encouraged him to quit, but refused.
Joseph’s dad, Joe Thomas, who also blames Uber for his son’s suicide, says his son even described a sort of brainwashing at Uber.
Read more at EURThisNthat.
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