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FaceBook = Class Action Suit?

March 27, 2007

What do you get when you are smart, technical, twenty-two and run a startup?  If you are Mark Zuckerberg it is likely you are going to get sued.  Why?  Some call it ‘foot-in-mouth disease’ while others call it inexperience.  More than a couple of lawyers are lining up to find clients willing to sign up to class action lawsuits against Mark and his wildly successful startup, Facebook.

This week entrepreneurs from across the country attended Startup School and heard Mark Zuckerberg suggest that founders should violate the 1967 Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).  For some reason Mark felt comfortable giving this advice.  Mark Coker at VentureBeat suggested, "Judging from whispers among the audience, while people love the service and admire his accomplishments, many find Zuckerberg arrogant. A Google search on “mark zuckerberg” and “arrogant” yields about 675 results, but surely, there must be other Mark Zuckerbergs in the world. Or maybe not."

Standing on the stage wearing Adidas sandals Master Zuckerberg implored the audience to, “I want to stress the importance of being young and technical,” he stated. "If you want to found a successful company, you should only hire young people with technical expertise." 

Several jaws dropped as he continued his advice, “Young people are just smarter,” he said with a straight face. “Why are most chess masters under 30?” he asked. “I don’t know,” he answered. “Young people just have simpler lives. We may not own a car. We may not have family.” In the absence of those distractions, he says, you can focus on big ideologies. He added, “I only own a mattress.” Later: “Simplicity in life allows you to focus on what’s important.”

Obviously, following Mark’s sage advice would cause you to run afoul of the ADEA, which makes it unlawful to discriminate against a person because of his/her age with respect to any term, condition, or privilege of employment, including hiring, firing, promotion, layoff, compensation, benefits, job assignments, and training.  I wonder if David Sze would agree with Mark? (Oh, and I was even dumberer when I was 22)

Written by Alexander Muse · Filed Under Blog 

Comments

7 Responses to “FaceBook = Class Action Suit?”

  1. nickpeters.net » Blog Archive » Startup School - Greg McAdoo, Mark Zuckerberg, Joel Lehrer (Part 4/4) Says:
    March 30th, 2007 at 11:34 pm

    [...] Mark Zuckerberg [...]

  2. Smibs Grow Smart Weblog » Blog Archive » Facebook management misses character Says:
    July 24th, 2007 at 6:10 pm

    [...] I’m sorry, but I have a hard time signing up after this agonizing experience. It’s one thing if you are young and you believe that innovation only happens when you are young - you’ll eventually get older yourself, which will fix that problem automatically. It’s also OK to be proud of your success. But man, please try to be yourself and don’t try to imitate someone that is forty years older than you and (by your own definition) has therefore completely lost the ability to be innovative. [...]

  3. Kay Dennison Says:
    December 15th, 2007 at 12:29 am

    Ya know — Mr. Zuckerberg’s ageist comment reminds me of what I used to tell my children when they were in their teens 20 years ago — that I wasn’t young enough to know everything. Mr. Zuckerman hasn’t a clue or respect for his elders. I hope he gets the payback he so richly deserves when his words come back to bite him in the backside. I may be old but, by damn, my brain can still spot an idiot when I see one.

  4. Facebook on 60 Minutes : Texas Startup Blog Says:
    January 14th, 2008 at 1:23 am

    [...] course I wrote about Mark in March.  I would have asked him about his statements contrary to to the ADEA: What do you get when you [...]

  5. The Rise and Fall of Facebook : The Drama 2.0 Show Says:
    February 24th, 2008 at 1:59 am

    [...] boy wonder that once served as an asset to Facebook’s PR machine has become a liability as his arrogance, potentially questionable ethics and hypocrisy become more [...]

  6. age discrimination in employment act Says:
    April 16th, 2008 at 7:01 am

    [...] manner.http://www.thecalifornian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080415/BUSINESS/804150334FaceBook Facing Class Action Suit for Age Discrimination?This week entrepreneurs from across the country attended Startup School and heard Mark Zuckerberg [...]

  7. Merfilin Says:
    June 5th, 2008 at 3:39 am

    According to a press release from SoftBank Mobile, the Japanese service provider has secured an agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone to Japan this year. The deal will ensure the iPhone’s first official access in Japan’s market.

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