Why would you want to fight it? The mid-year bonus was cut in half, so that's 25% of the max you could potentially earn if you received a full year-end bonus. Since most people's bonuses are 10-15% of their base pay, and then you're talking 25% of that, it's not a lot of money to fight for.
Unless you're making $200K w/ a 15% bonus which equals a $30K total bonus, 25% of that is $7,500.00. Do you really think you can beat Cisco through arbitration which is what you agreed to when you were hired? And do you think you can force Cisco to allow you to sue instead of arbitration for less than $7,500? You'll eat up most or more of your bonus trying to get it.
You stated:
There was nothing like that reflected in the CEC site when I looked back in Jan before resigning but it is there now as per Cisco HR. Honestly, I did not get any pointers or guidance from my manager or HR or the recruiter I knew though I pinged them multiple times. Unfortunately, I do not have any written proof since all the communication was done via WebEX and Cisco email.
How hard did you look? I did a simple search and found this for FY18 in under a minute. If that was the policy back then, and they're saying it is the policy now, odds are it's been the policy all along. Obviously your manager, HR & the recruiter you knew were stonewalling you hoping you'd resign before you were eligible rather than directly telling you to wait so you'd be eligible. You didn't state that anyone lied to you, but rather that they just didn't tell you.
Mid-Year Bonus Eligibility
• Employees on a P&LI bonus plan in grades 12 and below
• Hired on or before the first working day of Q2
• Employed through the date of the Q2 Earnings Release
• Employees not currently on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP)