Should I hire a labor lawyer to negotiate severance (3-months with benefits)? I actually want to stay but PIP could be living hell, can laywers negotiate this? What can laywers do in this situation? ExxonMobil legal must have already thought about this at every angle and word in the options contract, but wondering whatelse could be done.
36 replies (most recent on top)
You better check the legal definition of At WILL employee. None of you have a contract or union protection. Your only case would be in a "protected group". XOM loses very few of these cases because the system has been tested across 5 major headcount reductions in all states over last 4 decades. Also, Executives are subject to the same system, bottom 10% are routinely forced out or retire.
Has anyone that has been impacted spoken to an attorney yet?
Unless you're a perceived threat, an attorney will like say you have little room for severance negotiations.
What do others understand regarding unemployment claims and if they'll be challenged by Exxon?
Defamation of character comes to mind when a corporation’s CEO says that it has no plan for a lay off and the only official statement from the corporation is that they have a rigorous performance evaluation process to explain the release of a large group! Thier response to a Bloomberg article about lay offs was that it was simply performance based.
So, publicly you were not laid off, but let go because of performance issues.
How is anyone supposed to find a meaningful job now when the very same corporation declared anyone who left or were forced to leave (resign) in that time frame were due to performance issues?
From CEO announcement and PIP is less then 2 months.
If that isn’t the most passive aggressive behavior I don’t know what is!
Hiring an attorney will simply leave you with an additional bill to pay. Texas is a right-to-work state .Most of you are smart and will become leaders in other industries. The reality is that the ship is having issues. Oil prices, green energy, etc. Just see it from XOM's point of view. Move on, get a new venture, and meet new people. Celebrate that you are healthy and capable of getting another job.
Texas is a one party consent state. Any meeting you have start your recorder on your phone and document the conversation.
https://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/texas-recording-law
Agreed from below. If you go forward with contacting an attorney make sure to print out past reviews for years, not just going back a few.
Also, document any and all conversations in a notebook/log with dates etc of any communication your supervisor has given you in the past year during which your PIP is based on. Don’t place opinions in there just straight forward recap of conversations. Also, any emails from your supervisor or others within your group or company that said you did a good job on any projects.
In regards to contacting the press refer the press to the Bloomberg article that first dropped the hint on this upcoming lay-off by form of PIP.
I contacted the Wall Street Journal through the Signal app. Signal has no tracers. You can download it and text the WSJ tipline at 347-413-0496. I left a text tip with a summary of what they are doing as well as the link to this website.
I can assure you I’m not in legal or HR.
Yes, I have experience in legal from my past at another big company and witnessed it first hand how these big companies play with those that sue. It’s not pretty, and I’m just trying to be up front.
I would love to see EM held responsible for this bs of a lay-off they did as a PIP front to shove those out they don’t like. It’s corporate shuffling bs and it is wrong and dirty business.
I hope the millennials call EM out and it gets publicity so the outside can see how EM treats their employees. The only people EM care about going forward are the millennials.
The comment before this one about P&GA, Law and HR trying to intimidate is spot-on. The difference between this go-around and past PIP downsizing is pure and simple: 1. Xer's and Millennials will call their bluff. 2. Social media jugernaut. 3. XOM stock. 4. Management is failing stockholders from lack of a climate change business plan to modernizing at a glacial pace to poor management. No amount of intimidation can stop anyone if they have a legitimate claim. There are plenty of firms willing to go after XOM.
The individual posting below about a big scary ‘outside counsel’ waiting in the wings sounds like someone in pg&a, law or hr shaking in their little boots, attempting to intimidate anyone from legal action while pretending to be giving friendly advice. If they have outside legal council - excellent - XOMs defeat over this will be even more embarrassing. Make sure you gather info on your prior years performances (can be downloaded from career connect), and document that your supervisor said there was no performance improvement plan in place for you!
They have outside counsel on stand by and ready to go if a suit is filed. The outside law firm would love to get those billable hours with a huge company like EM that will pay the huge amount of billable hours they would be able to bill.
Those outside attorneys are very good too. EM would only hire the best. I guarantee EM already has a budget set aside for this and approved- PIPS lay offs - litigation.
I’m not trying to discourage those, but I have seen it so many times. And I am one that got a PIP too. I am angry and upset over it too.
It’s a no win situation. It’s s—s,
These id–ts think XOM has lawyers sitting around waiting to defend this. They don't I see the way they staff and they overload everyone 150% of what they can do in a 40 hr work week including their counsel. Believe it or not a lot of companies and PR don't like XOM so you may not looked down upon. But to each his or her own.
Kenard law office, Houston TX.
Not afraid to take on the big oil & gas companies.
They will be up front with you and tell you if have a case or not. Location August’s drive, Houston.
YES... they have this covered from every angle to prevent what you are thinking. Better hope they settle quickly. Are your pockets as deep as the company? Can you continue to pay your attprney for years as the company lawyers drag out litigation? Believe me, they have a team of attorneys sitting in the bullpin waiting for the call on just this matter. Further, are you prepared to be jobless for months or years when every company you apply to finds out that you sue your employer(s)? Like the commercial says..."what's in your wallet?"
NJ is different. EMRE is housed there. Many contractors who are in a union I think. ~3200 FTEs? Correct me if I am wrong. Check the NJ labor law on this. Regardless, waging war legally must be done thoughtfully and under the clearest letter of the law with as many of you banding together as possible. The first step: publicity. The second: organizing. The larger the group the bigger the teeth for step 1. Then with social media and private forums you can come together. GET YOUR HISTORY OF PERFORMANCE REVIEWS IN WRITING. Do that immediately.
Some of us are not in Texas. Will this make a difference? For instance, I work in NJ.
Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE on this thread needs to take this to the Wall Street Journal and the Houston Chronicle. Do not let P&GA or legal intimidate you. Band together. Gather your anonymous source material. Use the Signal app. Get organized on facts and not opinions. Remember, it is not THAT you were let go, it was HOW and WHY you were let go. Even with Texas being at-will, who cares, this needs to go to the court of public opinion.
If this gets out in our social media landscape at a minimum this is a PR disaster. This adds political weight to the climate deception story. BTW I don't agree with the climate deception story but this is a theme XOM has publicly right now. Just waiting for the media to take this over and oh yes they will because if they can bash O&G politically they will. Usually legal ramifications follow political ramifications because juries are made up of people. The problem here is it sets them apart from their competitors who are at least honest.
I am employed by EM for many years and I hoped I'd see my retirement with them. For the past years, I did not find myself in the bottom and it's just unfortunate that EM can now instantenously move people from top performers to bottom, for termination. I've given 150% of my time and dedication to EM, only to be terminated because I am not a favorite of my manager. It's just unfair and this is so devasting to me and my family. We've started to significantly downgrade our lifestyle because after the 3-months severance, there will be no unemployment benefits (because this is termination, not a layoff).
ExxonMobil avoids unemployment costs by rigging its forced performance ranked appraisal system unlike its major competitors who were at least honest and provided layoffs. Deception, bias and surprise attacks are the problem, not the layoffs. Think before signing to waive all rights for damages. Share the truth about ExxonMobil practices. #exxonmobilstrategicdeception #exxonmobilisfossildust #xomepitapgh
Texas is “a right to work State”. Simply, the company does not owe you anything. And you do not owe the company anything in return. Consider yourself lucky you get some advance notice on finding a new job. Hire a lawyer if you want (it’s your money) but you won’t win.
These are surprise, targeted attacks chaulked-full of bias and prejudice. Random selection would have been more fair. There was no basis or facts provided in most cases. The current grossly negligent approach seems to be systemic. Most people have not seen their performance improvement plans even though the 21 day deadline started immediately upon notification as in the review. Many are finding their reviews to come as a complete surprise when the only feedback received was positive or unrelated throughout the review period. This should make all the major news headlines, and ExxonMobil should have to answer for this phony hocus-pocus, smoke and mirrors, dog and pony show in which they are ruining peoples’ lives to clear their mismanaged bottom line. This is not right. Is this this the new emboldened corporate America and ExxonMobil? It seems to be.
Why don’t a bunch of you PIP’d employees float the idea of a class action lawsuit with some of the big law firms. XOM’s blatant disguise of layoffs as low performance does not pass the pub test / front page of the newspaper test. For how fearsome XOM’s legal team is meant to be, how could they let something past so stupid. This whole PIP move has left Exxon legally vulnerable. If I was a shareholder I would be furious. There are clear documents available on the intranet that indicates they bumped up the number they wanted PIP’d / NSI this year. The large law firms should quickly taste the blood in the water over this one. Many would relish the positive publicity a win against XOM would bring. Likely carry the case as no win no fee. Come on folks - there are smart people they have PIP’d - use some of those brains to punish these pathetic tactics via legal means. Management at XOM need a clear reminder that their arrogance is completely without basis.
How many years and how much effort did you put in to your work only to be treated like this? 3 months pay? Come on. What have you got to lose? You have ~21 days to get the interest of a firm / media (more time if you don’t care about this deadline they’ve given you to decide on PIP vs 3 month pay.) Think it’ll affect your future job prospects? No - there won’t be any other jobs in O&G for sometime anyway. Scared of losing that 3 months pay? You will look back in 10 years and say ‘how did I let myself be walked all over like that, when they were clearly in the wrong?’ There is nothing to lose by going after XOM on this one in a coordinated fashion. There is only upside. Catch them on their bulls*t. This is a lay-off and you should be paid out appropriately to help fund the next stage of your life. Don’t take this lying down - not when this is such a flimsy move on XOM’s part.
Of the 3 people that I know personally, 2 were CL 23 and the other CL 24. ALL older white hetero males.
Can anyone elaborate on what CLs this is happening to? Seems it’s only 27 and down? Are 28s and up somehow exempt?
Besides the good recommendations about to hire a lawyer, hired a lawyer that have different politic affinity (party) than Exxon Mobile, I think they can help you out more than a "normal" lawyer.
Xom will squash news of this.
Just like they do every process failure (fires, deaths, injuries, and the like). In the net news one day. Gone the next. Watch next time there’s a fire somewhere.
You should have plenty of data soon since the upper middle 1/3 (who just got shoved lower by their peers) are probably the only ones with any knowledge to avoid the failures to begin with.
So enjoy your environmental releases and burn unit visits!!
You can file for wrongful termination, but it is a battle going up against a big corporation and attorneys are not cheap. Big corporations will spend money and money to make those that file the lawsuit get discouraged and give up. The amount of money that you pay to fight them goes fast and EM probably has an entire defense of attorneys on call to slow the process down and drag it out to where the ex-employer gets tired of fighting, spending $, and gives up.
It is so wrong. The court system is set up for the people to lose and these big corporations to win. And I agree, this was done dirty and not fair and is bs, but I’m sure EM is prepared to do whatever it takes to get away with it.
I would like to see the news have a segment about how this was all done and handled and how bad they treated their employees. On local news and national news, but it probably would never happen either bc EM would take care of that too and get it squashed. But then again, as long as nobody sues and it goes away they don’t care what anybody thinks of them. They got away with it and that is their end game.
EM should be ashamed of how they handled all of this bc it was such an ugly way to lay off people. Just do it and be honest about it. Don’t play corporate games to screw over employees and make them feel even worse about being let go.
A group of people should get attorney...my spouse got the pip / force retirement letter...anybody recoment the name of a good employment attt?
If/when the economy improves will attrition rates be significantly higher among the people not in the top 20% in order to avoid being publicly told you were fired because you “s—”?
Any precedent for mass performance based terminations that essentially tarnish records in the public eye?
I am getting an attorney
Couldn't have said it better. Really wish the media was more attentive to what is really going on. As you said, the other oil majors were honest about it AND offered some EXCELLENT packages.
Completely agree. Hire a lawyer and don’t sign anything until you are comfortable with it. Performance based terminations at 10% we must not know how to hire and those that manage must be horrible at motivating and getting their employees to do good work if we have that big of a performance issue. I guues it starts with adherence Woods performance!
It would be impossible for anyone to say that layoffs aren’t going to happen in this environment. Look at all the projects that have been stopped or delayed not to mention the price of oil and natural gas are at lows. What do you do with almost the entire Global Projects organization? What about all the product no one is using or needs right now. Aviation fuel is useless and chemicals aren’t selling. This quarter is going to be a disaster yet we keep the dividend in place. Even when it makes no sense to. The management and Darren Woods along with the board are blind and only see what they want to see. Let’s keep telling ourselves we are the best oil major there is even though we never hit our targets and just move the bar lower.
Agreed with last post, and if multiple people do it XOM has to fight it and it's bad press for their already shaky wall st cred so I say consult a counsel.
The story someone needs to write is XOM avoids Unemployment costs by rigging their ranking system unlike their competitors who were at least honest. I work there and the deception is the problem, not the layoffs.
It's always wise to seek advice from a lawyer. Do you mind my asking how old you are ? How many years service ? How close to retirement ? If they're trying to cheat you out of your pension etc., a good attorney would make them VERY sorry.