@timeisrestored i just disagree entirely that saying "this person is acting like x" is in any way equivalent to "this person is x". people can do things reminiscent of much worse behavior and that can be pointed out without it needing to be a statement of equivalence. if even HALF of the way gio alleges that they and bambosh were treated during the negotiation process, i would consider using a simile like that to be pretty mild if i were in their shoes. in any case, the framing is secondary to the real issues which are the slimeball tactics demonstrated, and i only bring up the framing here because there's not a whole lot else to the response. playing good cop/bad cop throughout the whole negotiation, forcing one person off the project via divide-and-conquer tactics, insisting the delay lies at gio's feet when there appeared to be a misunderstanding on the (as far as i can see) clearly explained way that UHC handles decisions, escalating to legal threats while pulling the old "it would be a shame if something happened to this" card, all of it looks pretty bad. even just the most basic part of "your project is so cool, we would love to work with you, past unpleasantness will in no way affect this process, actually it will be a MAJOR roadblock that a lot of people are clearly still turbo pissed about" looks at minimum immature and unprofessional. this doesn't read to me like a response interested in taking any of that that seriously!

wish i had read the response from @crowbarsrcool before posting, i think they nailed it.