Comments on: Worker at GM plant fired over Camaro photo leak

By: The Stig

The Stig — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 09:21:39 +0000

His kids will be the star of “show and tell” at school.

By: t-ak-box

t-ak-box — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 19:52:56 +0000

To fire an employee for taken a photo of a shell of a product that was leaked. A Product That GM has had leaked through dribs and drabs over several months would seem like bad PR, but GM is no stranger to Bad PR. This photo doesn’t show anything critical. I have to agree with some on here that this was just a way to trim the payroll for them.

By: HemiRoadRunner

HemiRoadRunner — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 12:48:19 +0000

I like all the people on here that act like they wouldn’t sneak out a few pictures of this car to show to their kids. He shouldn’t have left the pictures where they could be distrbuted though.

By: peter g

peter g — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 06:51:02 +0000

Stupid worker got himself fires for taking pictures of yesterdays news

By: Jigs

Jigs — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 05:34:04 +0000

Syrax, i Agree wait didnt we all this this car in Transformers? that GM “over hyped, giant robot, carcrash looking fights, special effects crap” poor guy he took a few empty shell pics whoopy do the car has been “out” since 2005 if i remeber right.

By: Jordan

Jordan — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 22:12:56 +0000

nevermind, i just checked and it’s a publicity stunt used only for final assembly.

By: Jordan

Jordan — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 22:09:46 +0000

sharpie –

doesn’t vw have a glass factory?

By: DeansterTJ

DeansterTJ — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 20:34:24 +0000

That’s ridiculous. We’re bombarded by BILLIONS of Camaro pics to generate hype in the past 3 years and THIS grainy cellphone pic costs someone their job?! ****ing idiots. I feel sorry for the conveyor monkey.

By: doublearon21

doublearon21 — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 18:33:40 +0000

sharpie, I’m sure all the other car companies are just dying to learn GM’s trade secrets on how they build such high quality cars. There pics of a bare, standard unibody chassis, nothing special. A little overkill on the punishment, especially considering he has 28 years with the company.

By: doghis

doghis — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:57:20 +0000

dude has a really weak cameraphone….
crap quality…

By: Scarface03

Scarface03 — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:46:54 +0000

howsmydriving,
I wouldn’t go so far as to say the assembly work is public knowledge. I company can have trade secrets, proprietary information, and confidential informatioh without slapping a copyright on something.

But, I’m sure this GM employee violated his employment contract. People who are working on pre-released or new products probably routinely sign confidentiality agreements. Who knows, maybe every plant person does.

And, you have to fire the employee. It doesn’t matter if the leaked info contributed to the general knowledge or not, the car company needs to send the message that it won’t be tolerated. A minor transgression one time could be a seriously compromising disclosure the next.

By: bolex

bolex — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:44:41 +0000

/\ /\ /\ LOL..well, i guess ill just try to appreciate the hell out of these pics if someone lost a job. 28 yrs seniority?! what a dumbazz

By: johnnycanuck

johnnycanuck — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:39:54 +0000

Sympathy: you’ll find it in the dictionary between sh*t and syphilis. What a dumbf*ck.

By: SigmaHyperion

SigmaHyperion — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:36:41 +0000

howsmydriving — News Flash: YOU SUBSIDIZE THE PURCHASE OF ALMOST EVERY HYBRID ON THE ROAD. All hybrids get a tax incentive (anywhere from $250 to $12,000 depending on the model) except for the Prius, which did but now has reached a production volume that makes it not eligible.

Bottom line is that these facilities all have strict policies on picture-taking. Whether or not we’ve already seen this vehicle or not makes no difference at all. The rules are the rules. They don’t exist for an employee to determine for themselves whether or not anyone else has already seen that or not.

By: Supermann1

Supermann1 — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:10:06 +0000

^lol

By: Need4SSpeed

Need4SSpeed — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 16:09:18 +0000

well I guess that was an easy way to cut one more employee for GM…

By: howsmydriving

howsmydriving — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 15:27:46 +0000

It’s not intellectual property unless it’s copyrighted, trademarked or patented. If there’s a patent on the assembly line machines, that means it’s public knowledge, which wouldn’t justify firing the electrician.

GM makes some awful cars, and some truly great cars too, but they’ve never been a good corporate citizen. Even with Volt, they’re lobbying for some kind of tax incentive. Guess who pays for tax incentives? That’s right — the taxpayers. Do you want to subsidize the Volt?

By: FlyingB

FlyingB — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 12:38:14 +0000

olds307–lol; nice.

What I’d like to know is the chain of events that got the photos from his phone into the hands of his kids’ friends. It’s one thing if his phone was stolen, but this is either carelessness, foolishness, or both.

By: sharpie

sharpie — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 07:29:21 +0000

He could have put GM’s intellectual property at risk. We might have seen the prototype, but none of us have seen the manufacturing process, which could give a company at edge in light of competition. Most mechanics can probably take a car apart and rebuild it, but how to do it on a mass scale with the lowest cost is intellectual property (trade secret) also. By the way, this is not exclusive to GM. You think Toyota or VW would allow something like this to happen at their plants? Substitute GM with your favorite car maker and the results remains the same, so don’t knock GM on this one.

By: elviososa

elviososa — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 04:09:02 +0000

What’s the big deal…this early concept already gave away all the details.

By: Supermann1

Supermann1 — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 03:31:28 +0000

Whats there to leak? This car’s had a gazillion pics out there since what 2003? There will be plenty of “leak” pictures to take later, when the owner takes the car home and it leaks oil all over the garage floor.

By: olds307

olds307 — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 03:08:41 +0000

In Soviet Russia, GM plant leaks YOU!!

By: NoNameDenton1

NoNameDenton1 — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 02:37:53 +0000

It is ok when an exec. “leaks” something, compared to a worker bee

By: Jordan

Jordan — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 02:16:25 +0000

someone should fire bob lutz. he leaks official photos of the camaro in development constantly.

By: howsmydriving

howsmydriving — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 01:41:17 +0000

I meant to say a lesser discipline would have been more appropriate.

By: howsmydriving

howsmydriving — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 01:40:35 +0000

A lesser discipline would have been more important, especially given this employee’s seniority. As a company, GM sucks but we already knew that.

By: Syrax

Syrax — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 01:36:31 +0000

Camaro leak? When, in 2001? Everyone knows that car already.

By: Madcapp

Madcapp — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:47:51 +0000

If you’re not cheatin’ you’re not tryin’ !!!

By: NoNameDenton1

NoNameDenton1 — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:31:48 +0000

Break the rules you get the boot, that is what happens

By: Kaizen

Kaizen — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:04:59 +0000

Unfortunately, that’s what you get.