Thread regarding AT&T layoffs

Department of labor says employers should provide Safe and hazard free space.If your building was under renovation or your location was moved to RTO for 5days due to work going on those locations then its already unlawful to terminate those employees. Also Department of labor says there should not be discrimination, here AT&T has done favor to others who were less than 8 hours but more than 3 hours. May be they did favor to someone who was 4 hours and might be affected, so they did only for less than 3 hours.
Department of labor always stands with employees because they know big companies pay heavy to big law firms to fight their wrong deeds and DOL go by their rules.
So you should must sue them.

OP. In case company documents are needed for future court case, retrieve and print or save all applicable policies and emails.

Any person/entity can sue any person/entity for any reason... Especially crazy cases like 'my client doesn't want to go to work'. Lawyers love to take on cases that have no chance of succeeding, they'll ask for their retainer and fees up front.

**"Even in an at-will state the company has to give you an explanation for the termination. " **
This is not true. Google it.

"Only if you can prove it's faulty, and you don't live in an at-will state."

Even in an at-will state the company has to give you an explanation for the termination. If the company lays you off then you get severance but the company is open to various checks to make sure some protected group was not targeted. If the company fires you for cause then they have to state why you were fired, and they have to be able to back that up. Obviously, if the company wants to get rid of you and cannot get you to quit, then layoff with severance is the best way to go if you have not committed an terminable offense. I know this because I have been on the other side of layoffs and large terminations in an at-will state, and I had to compile tons of data for our attorneys in advance of the action.

If AT&T has done wrong and you got affected emotionally and mentally due to this type of hyped discrimination of less than 3 hours termination and you worked or 8 hours from any where then labor law will also protect you. Even AT&T will be forced to pay all losses an employee faced due to this partial decision.
I am damn sure no attorney will give any advice to their client to be partial and tKe such discriminating decisions.
Not sure what made them take such an unethical decision.
So believe in court and justice and go ahead and file lawsuit against them.

No matter how big a company is. Law and court is to protect any human being. Court don’t see how big is your lawyer. If your case is genuine you will surely win irrespective of how many money AT&T will spend to defend it. Time by time they always lost cases for doing unfair things.
And this cases is in first instance only discrimination between employees and doing favors to others. There is no rule less than 8 hours is not culprit and only less than 3 hours are culprit to take any action and even that without giving any warning or sending any prior notice which employees might have failed to adhere.
So don’t think about big or small company, big and small attorney or how much powerful they are. Court and justice is for everyone.

Don’t go with people discouraging for filing lawsuits, they know their CTO will be fired for promoting discrimination in the company and may be CEO will put all blame on CTO that they mis represented the fact to them and a discrimination happened based on average hours. What is this less than 3 hours? You clearly did discrimination. Sure shot win for employees impacted with it. No company whether it Amazon or any one did this in name of RTO, they followed either 8 hours from office or everyone fall short is culprit. But they never fired based in less than 8 hours presence inside office campus. CTO and HR system should be punished for promoting discrimination.

Lets file lawsuit against AT&T, they have done discrimination with their employees. They should have terminated all who failed to be inside office premises for less than 8 hours. What is this non sense, less than 3 hours and that too based in faulty HR report. If employee failed to work at all from anywhere less than 8 hours after multiple notices to them then it makes sense.
They were not suppose to do even if it is at will work.
Court will give justice without giving any second thought. As in fist instance only its clear case if discrimination.

There are many people waiting to file a lawsuit and be part of it. As its clear case of discrimination that too based on faulty HR report. Once any one file lawsuit let others know, so they can be part of it.
Either terminate all employees who worked less than 8 hours in office or cancel this wrong termination and CEO and CTO should take this blame in them of discomfort happened to all employees.

You can’t target employees based on 1,2,3 or any hour less than 7 hours. Its case of discrimination. Employers can’t do it. It case of breach of trust between employer and employee. Employer is not being fair with all employees. Either terminate all or give warning and resume them.

There were locations were AT&T building was getting renovated to allow more seating capacity. There were news every where, internet or local news papers that how there is chaos of parking and desks. So the RTO of 5 days moved for those locations to May and there it was start mentioning 8 hours in the office premises.
So discrimination based on location and time has happened. All employees failing to meet 8 hours should have been terminated. Its totally a case of employee discrimination. Tomorrow they can do it based on race , color , gender, Their CEO and CTO should be immediately terminated based in discrimination they have done.

Ofcourse you can sue. Either all employees who didn’t do 8 hours in office should be terminated or no one based on less than 3 hours report. Also their report is broken so they will surely loose. They can’t discriminate people for some coming less than 3 hours and not doing anything for those less than 8 hours.
It does not matter you sit 1 hour or 7 hour. There should not be any discrimination. Any one will win Lawsuit.

What I don't understand is, why don't they completely revert to pre-pandemic procedures completely. They've been able to track hours for decades. I haven't worked anywhere in AT&T that didn't require a key card. That technology alone is good.

They can tell when I'm logged onto a Microsoft account, and the IP that is logged on, so, they can see if it's a company PC.

If I was not working my 8×5, that was misconduct, job abandonment, that could result in dismissal with employee not entitled to things like Cobra benefits or unemployment insurance.

Only if you can prove it's faulty, and you don't live in an at-will state.

Guy in NJ did last fall and won, that was before RTO

I personally know of people reporting to the closest location to there house and not where they’re assigned. Pretty nice if you can get it.

No, companies cannot selectively enforce corporate rules to target employees, as doing so can be seen as discrimination or mistreatment, potentially leading to legal issues. Companies must enforce rules uniformly and consistently for all employees.
Here's a more detailed explanation:
Uniform Enforcement is Key:
Companies should have rules that apply evenly to all workers and consistently enforce those rules.
Selective Enforcement Can Be Discriminatory:
If a company only enforces rules against certain people or against a specific employee, it can be a sign of discrimination or mistreatment.
Potential for Legal Issues:
Selective enforcement can lead to claims of discrimination or retaliation, which are against the law.
Examples of Selective Enforcement:
A company adopts a rule that only impacts the rights or daily functions of specific employees.
A company enforces a rule against people who belong to one group, while not enforcing it against others.
A company writes up an employee repeatedly for minor rule infractions, which could be a step toward wrongful termination or to try to get the employee to quit.
What to Do if You Suspect Selective Enforcement:
Document all instances of selective enforcement.
Consult with an HR professional or an employment lawyer.
Be aware of your rights and the laws that protect you from discrimination and retaliation

“Yes, hire Larry Flint to be your attorney.”

Sorry. He’s down there where the C suiters & BoD are (likewise) bound.

You can always sue. Filing a lawsuit is cheap. Winning is harder but you should absolutely sue if fired over this RTO buffoonery. However, stop worrying. You won't be fired for it. No one will. The company would go bankrupt fighting the lawsuits, because they have no leg to stand on and are only a few billion from bankruptcy already.

If the “trigger” for the termination is failure to follow RTO policy and the evidence used is the “average hours” report then the company would be required in court to verify the accuracy of said report.

We know the accuracy is not even close to 100%.

Your only response when asked about specific dates is “ I do not recall, YOU said you were tracking. Is YOUR tracking not accurate?”

Sounds like a perjury trap for AT&T.

Yes, hire Larry Flint to be your attorney.

“ Your honor, corporate leadership had the audacity to expect me to work in the office full time.”

The issue is EVERYONE not doing 5x8 should suffer the same outcome.

And it would be thousands.

Your honor why is MY client different than any other employee that falls under this corporate wide policy?

Please do.

Have your lawyers request the data used for ALL employees.

Then question why you were singled out for a violation of a policy thousands are missing the mark on.

Then have the data compiled by age groups.

Then compiled by management levels.

Then begin questioning on why the same policy isn’t enforced throughout the company.

Ask why some have been laid off for not being in a “hub” while some people are still working in the same location or currently being hired outside of hubs?

Why are some groups in the same locations 3 days and others 5?

Burn it all down!

Yes, and you have a solid case if you’re exempt.

The chatgpt responses to the legal questions surrounding tracking hours for exempt employees have been posted several times.

1. It’s demonstrable that employees were lied to about office closure to force people to move or quit.

2. It’s known that they targeted the older workers after the ceo literally said in a townhall that he wanted to get rid of them.

3. Tracking of hours for an exempt employee is illegal. In addition everyone knows ATT is breaking the law with how they define an exempt employee, just so they can save money.

Get a lawyer and sue

“Your honor, corporate leadership had the audacity to expect me to work in the office full time.”

There is a 0% chance of winning an RTO lawsuit . You’d be wasting your money paying an attorney .

If you are a manager, your only option is arbitration. You agreed to this when accepting a management role.

Of course, you can sue. You'll definitely lose.

What would the legal argument be. Not choosing to work in the office?

Class action

You can, do you have the money to? now that you will be unemployed. Would you waste your precious resource to sue T? who are guarded with top lawyers.