Wagner James Au / New World Notes

Last month I reported that Linden Lab was investigating allegations posted to social media regarding toxic internal company operations among some staffers. Now Brad Oberwager, Linden Lab's Executive Chairman, is publicly confirming this, and reporting that the investigation is ongoing and expanding:

I promise we hear you. We know you're angry and you're confused. We are working to do our best to resolve your concerns and restore your trust in us. These are complicated issues and we want to do things right. We will make mistakes along the way. I wish I could say we will not, but we will.

As owner of Linden Lab, I have initiated a thorough investigation, both internally and with external partners, to review whether or not there have been any violations of our company and community policies by employees, contractors, or community members. While early preliminary internal investigations suggest that some of the accusations are unfounded, I want to make sure that we get additional investigative support externally to ensure that the process is fair and thorough.

The "anger" aspect is accurate — many community members have bristled at the allegations, and the lack of any public acknowledgment of them by the company. But as I wrote recently, there are very good reasons for a large organization to maintain radio silence in situations like this. 

One of the sources for my February post tells me this is what they'd expect from a thorough investigation:

"They need to look into allegations of nepotism by some in management, and allegations of a hostile work environment among moles [Linden Lab content creation contractors] and Linden staff working in the Linden Department of Public Works group related to potential nepotism."

As I understand it, Linden Lab is finally and reluctantly making this public statement at the behest of Second Life community leaders and content creators who've lobbied for it — which is a reassuring testament to the power of Second Life's community.

As for the investigation itself, we should probably expect it to take several weeks or even months, with some or all of the findings not even made public. As I wrote (speaking from general experience):

Radio silence may still rule even then. If they involve management or employees, the implicated people may just be asked to leave quietly. The goal here would be to avoid a wrongful termination lawsuit, or bad press, or both. 

Also: Publicly firing an employee/manager can expose the company to defamation/slander lawsuits.

None of this silence is very reassuring to the user community, and may even provoke more angst. Often the company staff is very aware of that, and frustrated that they can’t say anything publicly.

But we do know from this that the Second Life community keeps thriving, and seems destined to do so in perpetuity.

Comments note: As this post relates to unproven internal allegations, please refrain from discussing / naming any specific personnel.