Fired my brother today

Amazon
Int2ABool

Go to company page Amazon

Int2ABool
Dec 11, 2018 188 Comments

He wasn’t able to keep up with the rest of the engineering talent. We tried coaching, mentoring, and a performance plan but he just couldn’t keep up.

I signed off on his manager’s recommendation to terminate him and now my parents and other siblings aren’t talking to me. Did I do the right thing?

Update: Insomzonia -> (Inspired) - (Idiotic)

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 TOP 188 Comments
  • IBM / Finance
    tricia

    Go to company page IBM Finance

     tricia
    Why were you and your brother in the same team in the first place. Not sure, but doesn't AMZN have any policy as to not have family members in the same team. Most organizations have similar policies.
    Dec 11, 2018 2
  • Google
    TK .

    Go to company page Google

    TK .
    "No. You cover for your family."

    Who are the people voting for this? Are you Italian mobsters from a movie? Who actually believes that you should hold family to a lower standard?

    Good grief.
    Dec 11, 2018 6
    • Google / Design
      OhMyGlob

      Go to company page Google Design

       OhMyGlob
      family is people you don’t choose. fuck that “family for life” bullshit. I’d rather be surrounded by people I choose.
      Dec 12, 2018
    • Stripe / Eng
      Xa8524

      Go to company page Stripe Eng

       Xa8524
      A big part of professionalism is keeping personal life separate from work. Yes family comes before work, but that should still not seep into the decisions you make at work. It sounds like OP’s brother wasn’t his direct report. I agree it’s inappropriate having a manager and direct report being family. But otherwise, they should be able to recuse themselves from such a decision, and their manager/peer. It’s not okay a company put you in such an awful position.
      Dec 12, 2018
  • Microsoft / Eng
    gfsfn

    Go to company page Microsoft Eng

     gfsfn
    your family is toxic
    Dec 11, 2018 3
  • AMD
    5nm

    Go to company page AMD

    PRE
    Intel
     5nm
    The problem is the Amazon allowed you to work with your brother and oversee his development. Most companies make sure that relatives don’t work together and especially have no influence on the each other’s careers.
    Dec 11, 2018 3
    • AMD
      5nm

      Go to company page AMD

      PRE
      Intel
       5nm
      I am sorry to hear that Amazon put you in this position. You were between a rock and hard place. Overall, I think you did the right thing, your family will get over it, eventually. (I hope.)
      Dec 11, 2018
    • Google / Eng
      Ex-Amazon

      Go to company page Google Eng

      PRE
      Amazon
       Ex-Amazon
      You should have proactively avoided it. Somewhere down the line, you should have foreseen this will cause either family or work issues. Lesson learned, I hope. For your bro, tough love is the best love.
      Dec 13, 2018
  • Amazon
    Rave50

    Go to company page Amazon

    Rave50
    Sounds like the right thing happened, but you should have recused yourself from the decision making here. It is a tough situation to begin with you have a family member in your org, but once in that situation you should not make a decision like this. Defer to a peer or your manager to make the call.

    This also shields you from some of the family issues.
    Dec 11, 2018 5
    • Intel
      UGeJ58

      Go to company page Intel

      UGeJ58
      Huge conflict of interest. You should have no organizational relation to any family member
      Dec 12, 2018
    • This is the correct answer. You should have removed yourself from the decision altogether and allowed the manager plus HR to make the decision (and they likely would have come to the correct decision to fire him). Making a decision when you have a conflict of interest always has a higher likelihood of reflecting poorly on you, which is why when recusal is possible, you ought to do so
      Dec 12, 2018