Re: [PATCH net] MAINTAINERS: update

[Lijun Pan]

On Thu, Dec 23, 2021 at 11:26 PM Slade Watkins <slade@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> On Fri, Dec 24, 2021 at 12:19 AM Lijun Pan <lijunp213@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >
> > On Mon, Apr 19, 2021 at 6:40 PM <patchwork-bot+netdevbpf@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hello:
> > >
> > > This patch was applied to netdev/net.git (refs/heads/master):
> > >
> > > On Mon, 19 Apr 2021 16:25:25 -0500 you wrote:
> > > > I am making this change again since I received the following instruction.
> > > >
> > > > "As an IBM employee, you are not allowed to use your gmail account to work
> > > > in any way on VNIC. You are not allowed to use your personal email account
> > > > as a "hobby". You are an IBM employee 100% of the time.
> > > > Please remove yourself completely from the maintainers file.
> > > > I grant you a 1 time exception on contributions to VNIC to make this
> > > > change."
> > > >
> > > > [...]
> > >
> > > Here is the summary with links:
> > >   - [net] MAINTAINERS: update
> > >     https://git.kernel.org/netdev/net/c/4acd47644ef1
> >
> >
> > In the past 8 months I have received many emails from you, asking me
> > about my current status. I am sorry that I did not have a chance to
> > answer all of them.
> >
> > The most questions being asked were “Are you still with IBM? Did they
> > restore you to the previous job?”. I think I can answer these
> > questions now. I am not with IBM anymore. I was terminated this month.
> > I wasn’t able to work on ibmvnic since June, even as a hobby, which
> > you can figure out from the mailing list traffic. The last 8 months
> > was tough for me. But I am very thankful to all of you for your
> > kindness and support.
>
> hi Lijun,
> just wanted to pop in for a sec.
>
> I am so sorry to hear about this and I sincerely hope that you are
> doing better now.
>
> >
> > I will be celebrating the holiday with my family for the rest of the
> > year. I would be happy to find something worth my time (vs. arguing
> > about the open source way of doing things with an entity). I would
> > rather just have a break and relax myself than do something completely
> > mundane for another company. Thank you in advance for any connections,
> > advice or opportunities that you can offer.
>
> please do! relax and don't burn yourself out. everything will be okay with time!
>
> Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you, and your family! :)
>
> best,
> slade

Thanks for so many of you supporting me and giving me advice during
the holiday season. I would like to share with you one piece of good
news, that is my unemployment benefits was approved by the Texas
Government. It was no easy job since I was fired. And usually a fired
worker does not get unemployment benefits. The reason for the decision
from the Texas Government is crystal clear “Our investigation found
that your employer fired you for a reason that was not misconduct
connected with the work.”.[1] If it was not misconduct, what was the
reason? You can figure it out.

This company plays the “at will” game to the extreme extent.[2] By
firing me before Dec 15, it does not need to match my whole year’s 6%
401K,[3] it does not need to pay for the rest 2 weeks of December,
when workers are usually laid back and enjoy the holidays. And of
course the company knows I have a 1-year-old child to support, lacking
unemployment benefits would be a disaster to my family. What a company
it is!

I hope, by sharing my own experience with you, it will help when you
pick an offer in the future.

Happy New Year to You and Your Family
Lijun


—
[1] https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JY8f1QLkvlOsQjgPQKDf_RSKEFt7h108

[2] US workers do not actually sign a contract. It is an “at will”
offer. Employee and employer can fire/terminate each other at any time
with any reason. It looks fair to both sides, but in fact employees
are usually much weaker in front of employer, in terms of the
resources they own.

[3] https://www.ibm.com/us-en/employment/benefits/assets/2019_Benefits_and_HR_Programs.pdf
IBM matches 401K after one year of service, if you are on active
payroll on Dec 15. You may think you should get your first year’s 401K
at the end of your first year. The fact is you don’t get it. For
example, I was hired in Jan 2019, I thought I would have 401K matched
in Dec 2019. But IBM actually started considering 401K matching from
Jan 2020. So in my case I only got Year 2020’s 401K matched at end of
Dec 2020. I was fired before Dec 15, 2021, so I did not get the money
for year 2021. Given the example above, you know exactly how good the
401K policy is.