Michael Young Termination Communication Approach

April 4, 2026 at 1:20 AMpeoplehigh

Situation

Peter set communication boundaries for Michael Young's termination: don't tell RESF people WHY, only 'we decided to part ways.' Advised Greg not to write specifics down. Declined to reply to Michael directly.

Reasoning

California employment law knowledge: don't disclose termination reasons, especially in writing. Corrected Greg's instinct to share reasons with RESF people to protect CIQ legally. The 'don't write it down' advice prevents discoverable documentation.

Additional Context

Termination happened Mar 31 at 10:30am PST. Michael was upset and disagreed. Justin executed with Mariah. Max shared he had coached Justin through it beforehand. Peter was surprised it was that day but let it proceed without delay.

Observed Evidence

Multiple direct quotes in #hr-csuite-sync. Peter corrected Greg's suggestion to tell RESF people why. Advised against written documentation of reasons. Declined to reply to Michael. Was surprised it was happening that day but supported proceeding.

Matching Patterns

30%
Accountability Follow-Through(same category (people), executing consequences)

Confidence Breakdown

35/35
Evidence
15/30
Pattern
20/20
Source
15/15
Corroboration

Reasoning Depth Analysis

Org Signal:CTO applies employment law discipline — sets tone for clean, legally sound separations across engineering
Who Affected:Justin (executed termination), Mariah (HR process), RESF CIQ employees who need to know Michael is gone, Greg (corrected on communication)
Precedent:Clean termination process precedent — no reasons disclosed, no written trail of specifics
Consequences:Michael upset but process was clean. Max coaching Justin shows Peter's leadership approach being modeled downstream.
Timing:Same day as technical meetings — clean break, no delay despite Peter's surprise

Source

reflection

AI Confidence

95%

Related Context

💬
#hr-csuite-sync

slack

I'd check that with Mariah. I do NOT think we can tell them why. Where does Michael live? I know if CA you don't want to say anything at all other than 'we decided to part ways'.

💬
#hr-csuite-sync

slack

That's fine. But… don't write it down anywhere Greg.

💬
#hr-csuite-sync

slack

No I do not need you to wait. And I will not reply to Michael.

Outcome

No outcome recorded yet.

Decision ID: 078625b8-a8b4-4629-907c-9568467708a3