NYT: Meg Whitman Was Accused of Shoving eBay Employee

by Meenal Vamburkar | 12:55 pm, June 15th, 2010

» 18 comments

Before Meg Whitman was California’s Republican candidate for governor, she was the CEO of eBay. During her time there, Whitman was reportedly accused of becoming angry and “forcefully” pushing another employee. The employee, Young Mi Kim, threatened a lawsuit, but the matter was settled for “around $200,000.”

According to the New York Times, in June 2007, when Kim was preparing Whitman for a news media interview, “Ms. Whitman became angry and forcefully pushed her in an executive conference room at eBay’s headquarters, according to multiple former eBay employees with knowledge of the incident.”

In addition to the financial settlement, an “agreement to keep the matter confidential was also part of the settlement, and the authorities were not involved.” Kim, who is now a senior manager for corporate and executive communications at eBay, told the Times that she and Whitman had let bygones be bygones:

“Yes, we had an unfortunate incident, but we resolved it in a way that speaks well for her and for eBay,” Ms. Kim said. “And ultimately, I came back to the company, which is not something I had to do.”

Whitman’s campaign responded with an official statement, calling Kim a “respected colleague and valuable asset” to the company:

“In any high-pressure working environment, tensions can surface,” the statement said. “Young Mi and I had a professional disagreement, which we put behind us. She and I continued to work together at eBay, where I valued her skilled counsel and thorough professionalism.”

Exemplifying her background in management at eBay has been central to Whitman’s campaign. But the report also suggests the incident was an “anomaly.” Former executives said she was demanding, but they “knew of no other similar accusations.”

The report comes following Congressman Bob Etheridge‘s responding quite physically to being asked him if he supported “Obama’s Agenda.”

California gubernatorial race, eBay, Meg Whitman, New York Times, NYT

paulmdoro

Considering the outrage over the congressman’s pushing, surely everyone here will condemn Whitman’s pushing as well.
lonestar77

This is the best that the lame-stream media can do to try and excuse yesterday’s incident? Hahahahahahahahaha. I knew they’d dig something up but I thought it would something of substance. Hahahahaha. Lame, lame, lame.

I can’t even give them an “E” for effort, here. Epic fail.
mikesundown

For $200,000, she should have clobbered her.
paulmdoro

Yeah for $200,000 it must not have been a love tap. Is that a defense lonestar?
mproust

Oh, Menial! How shocking! Now I will be sure to vote for Meg.
lonestar77

A defense for what? An argument between colleagues? Whooptie friggin’ do. I had a co-worker that threatened to kill about 8 of us because we turned everything in his office around backwards when he was out of town for work. He was serious. That’s more violent than pushing someone.

Woo Lin Kim got $200K most likely using Jesse Jackson shakedown tactics. Big company, many resources, settle a stupid suit for $200K. It’s the world we live in. If you look at somebody wrong or compliment them on their shoes, they’ll sue you…thanks to left-wing ambulance chasers.
paulmdoro

Is it an argument between colleagues or forcefully pushing another person? Or are those one and the same? Why is the congressman pushing someone not OK but Whitman pushing someone acceptable?
lonestar77

It’s difficult to compare apples to oranges so you should prolly stop trying.
paulmdoro

Does that mean you don’t know?
lonestar77

Don’t be an idiot. Of course they’re not the same. When you work with someone day in and day out, sometimes things escalate. If you’ve ever worked in an office, you know this. That’s much different than some congressman going bezerk on some kid for simply asking “do you fully support the Obama agenda”? C’mon if you can’t see that, then you’re a moron.

FWIW, I think the congressman’s apology seemed sincere. He said he had a bad day and took it out on those students. My complaint was the spin from left-wing cooks like Colby Hall calling him a hero or the various people at MSNBC blaming the students or even Breitbart or O’Keefe. But, if you have to compare them, although they are completely different situations, it’s understandable that people who work together everyday might have a shoving match while it’s not understandable that a congressperson would go crazy on some kid for asking a pretty simple, innocuous question.
paulmdoro

More name-calling here. Why do people feel the need to insult others to make a point? Anyway, of course I’ve worked in an office. I would say that someone putting their hands on a co-worker is totally out of line and inappropriate. I imagine that gets you fired at many workplaces. I have never seen a shoving match between co-workers before, and I have worked in many different places.
lonestar77

I’m not calling you names, I said if…then you’re an idiot. Sue me!

I angered a current co-worker a couple years ago and he said he was going to f’n kill me. What’s with all the anger with the people I’ve worked with? I still work with this guy and he’s calmed down. He’s about 60 yrs old and just an angry bitter person. We actually get along pretty good now. Funny thing is, I’m about the only one he gets along with…prolly cuz I set him straight.

Jeez, where do work? One of those places that trains monks?
paulmdoro

Is it that rare to work in a place where people don’t come to actual blows? If so that’s a sad reflection on our society. To me it seems highly inappropriate for someone to forcefully shove a co-worker. I do think it would get you fired at a lot of places, unless you’re the CEO.
TfT

I’m laughing at this story; how desperate is mediaite anyway? Reaching back to an 07 event in their attempts to justify last weeks assault by a sitting congressman on a constituent? Too damn funny.
MichelleF

NYT Reports Whitman’s 2007 ‘Shove’, Ignores Brown Calling Her Nazi Last Week

Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2010/06/15/nyt-reports-whitmans-2007-shove-ignores-brown-calling-her-nazi-last-week#ixzz0qz6bt9hk

NYT isn’t the only ones quilty of this, right Mediaite!
Phocus2

OK…remember the name ‘Meenal Vamburkar’, shill for the Democrats. Meantime, vote for Whitman, make the Golden State Golden again.
http://www.libertarianism.com/ Burnnotice

Wow $200,000. For allegedly shoving someone? That means that kid who was assaulted by Rep. Bob Etheridge should get Bank!!!
patjenks

This goes to show you that toxic bosses can be found in any type of company, even a well-respected startup like eBay…which is why it’s so important to reference check your potential bosses on sites like eBossWatch.