Thread regarding Cisco Systems Inc. layoffs

s-xual harassment happened to me twice at cisco. after 17 years iam going to report it to labour organization so that others are not affected even an employee attorney.HR does not care. th hr said instead of coming to me go tell his wife. they make u feel you are in the wrong and prevent you from talking to colleagues. Iam thinking of starting an independent organization for tackling hr issues. inevtiably it shows up in ranking and you have to sign papers that you cannot sue the company to get the severance package on resigning

Don't communicate with HR anymore. They will try to have you sign for a measly settlement to go away forever. Find an attorney experienced with helping employees who were wrongfully terminated at Cisco. May take a while but company will settle. Hopefully you took pictures of your emails.

In the meantime you need to also move on.

No case unless your boss smacked you in the face and you have it on video. One person's harrassment is another person's "aggressive mgmt". Go away unless you've got video.

Talk to a lawyer and find out if you have a strong case. Give them the facts and evidences.

HR is always on Company side. They give a sh:t about employees.

Pls go talk to Labor Standards Inspection Office in your area.
I assume you have a record?

The way you wrote that and the offer they made indicates you’re being terminated and they want you to agree to accept the severance in lieu of being sued.

Depending on where you are located you may have a federal claim because you can’t be terminated for reporting harassment. It’s illegal for Cisco to do this. It’s called retaliation.

You should at least get an attorney to look that over if you decided to sign. Good luck!

I can easily tell HR never investigated each item I reported to Ethics.

HR is again trying to have a meeting with me, perhaps with an updated severance/separation doc (I know it's still too small a package) and I know they'll request me to sign it within a few days. But why should I? I won't even accept their invite. I'll proceed to next action.

I wonder how many times HR resigned innocent employees like this.

@1ohl+1q4f9n32 sounds like one those HR bullies. Do not let these trolls bully you. This actually means that OP may have a legit case because the bullies are out to deter OP. Go to media! Quote this forum.

LOL I can't even tell if most of these posts are genuine or some type of strange fan fiction anymore.

If this is somehow a legitimate gripe, I'll clue you in: nobody cares about you or your problems. Might want to think twice about that whirlwind media tour and eight figure book advance chronicling your expose against Cisco that you seem to be counting on.

Unfortunately, it is the case with me 20 years back. The situation didn't change and the colleagues made friends with the boss for their growth, not for you. Everyone is selfish and you get out of place quitely and prove success somewhere else.

I'd recommend going to the media! This is what happened to me when I was harassed by my UK manager. As a female, I was bullied by another female "HR Consultant". In some countries recording your boss without notifying him is illegal. I did not know at that time that you can do that in the UK. But I was bullied out by HR. That is what they do to stop people from suing Cisco. And as individuals, we do not have the money or power to fight their armies of lawyers. HR does nothing but protect the company. They don't give a hoot for the employees.

Go to the media. At least that will make it known to others what Cisco does under it's image cover of "Best Place to Work". I tell you now: If I ever see any such thing hitting the media, then I'll join in with my anecdotes. I regret not doing it then.

Did you get voice record and video record of the harassment?
You need Voice record and video records.
In my country managers got fired with evidences.

I'm sorry this happened to you, it certainly seems unfair, but you can't beat Cisco's iron clad legal team as an individual.

Before blaming HR, I'd be wondering if your "witnesses" who were questioned by HR covered their a$$ and threw you under the bus by denying that they saw any harassment leaving HR with no proof.

That sounds like a much more likely story than HR covering it up. It still amounts to the same thing in the end.

I'd be asking why such a little package? I've never heard of a company offering a separation package when people "resign".

They can't "fire" you within 1 yr of you opening that HR case because that would be retaliation so you should be able to demand a full LR layoff package if they really want you to resign, or possibly even more. But know that you're on the LR hit list after a year if you don't find a new job and quit.

MEDIA !!!!!!

Lawyer is a waste of money. Better to spend money on a media consultant to package your story for max impact.

Harassment and bullying? Guessing you might be a younger employee.

The world is definitely changing. In 1990s, had several scenarios such as:

• My boss picking up telephone, from inside his office, and calling my extension (40 feet away); and literally screaming at me "Get with the f&$.;ng program!"; because I wasn't handing an escalation correctly. About five others witnessed it. I did buckle down and worked through it. He promoted me next cycle. Great Manager overall then. In today's world, he could have not operated.

• Branch Director told five or six junior Account Managers, in a meeting of 100 people; to stand up and move to the back of the room, where there was a plastic table set up with paper plates. The rest of the room has nice round tables with linen and place settings. She said they get to return to the big table for the next quarterly meeting, because either next quarter they make their quota; or they won't have any place to sit, even at the plastic table. About 1993 or so.

Above normal life at a large Telco in the 1990s. If you worked in sales office, it was suit and tie everyday except Fridays.

Toxic? A bit. Did people put up with it? Yes; promotions and bonuses were generous. Did people leave? Yes; it was competitive and lots of the above.

Would rather have had the above as a young person. Banked most of the cash, glad I did now a dinosaur readily awaiting a final package.

They cant just give you one month severance. Save every convo you have. Send them a legal letter. Ask for at least 6 months package just like others.