Regarding people losing their jobs - that is a result of the terrible judgement and values of the leadership of Gawker. They are not being 'punished' for anything. Do you think that the people at Ford were 'punished' when the leadership of Ford made bad decisions that cost people their jobs?

"emotional comfort of a billionaire"

That is very dismissive. Are people worth less to you when they have more money?

> Do you think that the people at Ford were 'punished' when the leadership of Ford made bad decisions that cost people their jobs?

Yes

How can you justify that position? There are consequences to our choices, but they don't always follow a moral principle. If I have two job offers and choose the company that ends up going bankrupt, I'm not being punished. If I'm a farmer and plant according to weather predictions which prove false, losing crops and revenue, that might be bad luck or bad judgement, but its not punishment.

Those people knew what kind of garbage the site published and decided to hitch their wagon to it. If I join a company that is in the news for doing things that sound like it might get the shit sued out of them and they eventually get sued, should I be surprised?

I am about as worried about gawker employees losing their jobs than I am about ISIS fighters losing their jobs. These guys are making money outing people and publishing sex tapes.

Is this the Clerks "contractors on the Death Star" argument? [1]

They knew who they were working for. Lie down with dogs, etc.

[1] http://www.whysanity.net/monos/clerks5.html

That's the breaks when your corporation makes criminal mistakes and it is proven in a court of law, unless you are a bank or financial firm or politician.

Maybe Gawker should have thought of its employees then.