The federal law ADEA provides some protections against age discrimination. If you received a list of job titles and ages from this recent layoff, you are entitled to two more pieces of information. Contact your HR and perhaps your actual manager to get the following, which you are entitled to BY LAW:
Move on with your life. T has let you know how they value your performance. Listen.
Former remote worker, declined Wave 1 in Aug 2023, out in Nov 2023 with severance—you know, the thing they give for involuntary termination (which is not "choosing not to follow the work").
I got an ADEA letter as part of my termination paperwork (PDF). Number of people at my location: one.
This was a smart way to clear out older, more expensive employees, some with growing pension obligations (me among them). The ADEA protection focuses on all the law had to work with in 1967: physical location. AT&T is complaint with the letter of that law, but not its spirit. In my org, every one of the FTO's who got RTO'd was over 55, and ADEA can't do anything about it. All of us came worked for the same director in a "location" with a headcount of one.
I get it. The company needed to shed highly paid workers with promises inherited from better times at legacy companies, so I had to go. But you know who was even more highly paid and arguably did a worse job? John Stankey and his predecessor.
I am still seething. "Rebadged" a few years back. Still trying to piece my life back. Sh-t company.
What recording?
Everyone in the management decisional unit selected for surplus was over the age of 40.
The problem with this logic is those who are over 40 are a lot more expensive versus their younger counterparts.
If you want to prove age discrimination, someone needs to cough up the recording of the earnings call where Stankey slipped up.
“ ADEA can’t protect low performers.”
You know that first hand.
yes, please ask HR and make sure to report back with your finding here.
or, don't waste you time
Number 2 is supposed to (for managers) be appraisal and seniority. But then there is the issue of similarly titled people at the same location, but in different groups or divisions, where somehow, the old people's group is the one with the surplus.
Everyone in the management decisional unit selected for surplus was over the age of 40.
Are you sure the courts are the correct venue? If the venue is arbitration is it really worth fighting?
ADEA can’t protect low performers.
Yeah, it's not that simple. It would be very difficult to prove in court since they have a pretty solid defense for restructuring the company in co-located workplaces to rebuild/change the culture. They also want to rid themselves of costs associated with excess and unneeded real estate. Those are not strategies based on age discrimination. Even if you could prove that they let you go and backfilled the position with someone under the age of 40, this would be a real uphill battle in court and I doubt you can find or afford an attorney that's better than the ones they can afford. You might find a sympathetic jury that can read between the lines, but can you afford to take that chance with how mindless people are today, can you prove damages that are enough to cover your legal fees and pay your bills, then what will you have left over after the fact for all your efforts? You're still going to need to find a new job anyway. I've been through litigation many times and I can tell you it's not what you think it is and justice is only for those that can buy it. Talk to an actual attorney and I bet you don't hear what you want to on this matter. Hate to be a Debby Downer, but don't let your emotions make decisions for you, be logical and level headed or you will end up in a worse situation. This is a garbage company to work for. 23 years I have spent here with the sky falling every day, clueless management and incompetency all around. I'm looking forward to my severance and some time off. At least we are not strarting out our careers and have a better sense of what to avoid when shopping around for new jobs/employers. Best of luck to you all today and through 2025 or however many waves they end up going through.
You can get a copy of these numbers, but there is no age discrimination linked to these layoffs. The positions affected cross all age demographics. These is an equal opportunity initiative.