TWiT LLC is truly a reprehensible company with a marked history of firing honest and hard-working employees and/or treating them like shit. Recently, Leo Laporte was heard explaining why keeping employee numbers low is a great thing. Breaking news… it’s not because he’s an altruistic employer.
Under federal law, an employer is not allowed to discriminate or make employment decisions based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age or genetic information. However, most of these protections fall by the wayside once the number of employees falls below 20, or if any of those workers are independent contractors.
If you are employed a independent contractor (also referred to as a 1099 employee, aka NET-60 employee) you literally have no workplace rights, you’re not entitled to any benefits and generally cannot sue for workplace discrimination or harassment. An independent contractor is simply someone who contracts their services to more than one company and is not under the complete control of one company. This is why Shannon Morse (aka Snubs, aka snubs.zip) would have no legal basis for filing a lawsuit because her body of work appears on more than one website.
So it would appear that TWiT’s modus operandi has been, all along, to bring in as many independent contractors as possible to avoid much of the liabilities and responsibilities that come with traditional employees, while keeping the number of 9 to 5 employees as low as possible to lessen worker rights.
Many people would argue that Leo Laporte, Lisa Laporte and TWiT aren’t doing anything wrong and that they are simply complying with the employment laws as defined. Sure, that is one point of view, if you’re a fucking sadist. But we all know that nothing in the law prevents employers from offering benefits to employees in companies with less than 20 people or taking the moral high ground that harassment of any kind should never be tolerated. If it was up to Leo Laporte, he would literally bring back slavery, and every new employee would have to qualify by first getting on their hands and knees. Harvey Weinstein would be fucking proud.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t84MxjCZR_w&t=6m20s
Think he still squats in the TWiT apartments (next to the far more useful beer cellar).
You call it morally dubious and ethically challenged abuse of labour laws. I call it padding the tub o’ lard’s vacation fund.
What a shit article. Especially ignoring the news that the pretend priest is leaving twit, although it probably irks the phony father that he isn’t news.
Would love to see how Leo counts to 19 or 20 employees, does he know his company has a people page on its website we can see?
Your business knowledge is weak if you think one !chooses! if the person is an employee or not in the US.
And the employment laws kicks in at 50 not 20, try Google Leo.
Thanks for your insightful comment (it was originally put in the site Spam folder – I don’t know why).
Ha! Nice try try Dr. Mom.
The Ashkenazi is strong with that one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sONfxPCTU0
Please? At least most of us agree about Leo.
I don’t know if anyone else felt the same way. But in 2009 I would have jumped at the chance to work at Twit with Leo, Erik and Colleen.
I don’t think anyone wants to work there now. I imagine a lot of people don’t even know who Twit or Leo are.
Attention is on YouTube, money in advertising. TWiT has little to no presence on YouTube. The only people who know who he is are those who grew up with Tech Tv/G4. It’s why TWiT has to recycle the same 10 guests every month. Nobody worth their salt is going to waste their time on his show.
TWiT has been hoodwinking advertisers for years. Leo and Lisa know the reckoning is coming with the iOS analytics. They’re cancelling anything that doesn’t generate revenue, foreshadowing an inevitable move to a home office studio.
Wow – quite a shit fest above! You all are hilarious and my crunt is still skanky.
Love to all.
Hate that greedy(and I bet lonely) pay-waller Thurott and his little Twink Brad Sams