Betting against lawsuits

The recent suicide attempt has really shocked some of my fellow Amazonians here in Seattle. But it really shouldn't be a surprise because the abusive culture is well known in increasingly large pockets across Amazon.

After having barely escaped from an abusive manager myself my first year at Amazon, I can imagine what that victim went though. Amazon rewards managers that are skilled in inflicting pain without leaving a paper trail.

In my case, I got professional help including medication due to the abuse. There's only so much stress that any human is able to handle before you start to crack. Who knows what would have happened if I just tried to ride it out instead of transferring right away when the opportunity arose?

I definitely would have gone crazy if I had been placed on a PIP after requesting the transfer. This was one of the possibilities identified by my friend when I told him what I was planning, so I was collecting a mountain of evidence against my abusive manager. Thankfully, it was never needed. But given all of the stories, it never would have helped me internally since everyone knows that HR backs the manager every single time. It would have been useful if I wanted to sue, but Amazon bets on the fact that almost no employees will ever take it that far. And unfortunately they are right about that.