Does it occur to anyone, that there is a huge opportunity here for a Class Action Lawsuit ? VP's openly commending Millennials, while laying off hundreds of people in there 50's , because they are higher paid ?
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Verizon management are pigs.... they won’t hire anyone over 50 no matter how qualified.....30 years experience in exact same position that I applied for with Verizon ...10 times!.... I have perfect driving record... NO criminal history.... d–g free....excellent work history.......still nothing.... hard to believe they were able to find more qualified candidates than me.... 10 times!!!
So many perpetual victims without an Internal locus of control. Abdication of responsibility is effortless.
Same story here, except I was victim of first wave of wireless layoffs. I was oldest one in my department (late 40s) and the goto engineer. I'm sure I was the highest paid also, except for one other guy that used to be a manager. We both got laid off... same day. We were also the only two caucasians in that department. I took the severance instead of suing. I will always wonder could I have won. Had a lawyer willing to take the case, but not yet being 50 I needed to be able to work in the industry. :(
We'll see how they do this time around
can someone share a link to the video or clips?
here is the ages of the ones we lost in our region.
40's
50
50's
50's
50's
50's
70's
50's
60's
50's
*340: That is great, way to take action! Hopefully, this will get the ball rolling. Thank you for sharing what EEOC told you.
Just hung up with EEOC, they are taking my complaint. You have to be over 40 and be able to describe your situation. The fact that you sign the waiver and take the package is irrelevant. You still have grounds for an age discrimination complaint. Once your complaint is filed EEOC will investigate your case. If they find you have grounds, you can then file a lawsuit in Federal Court. Class Action is in the making here. I highly recommend everyone file the complaint with the EEOC
NYNEX (Verizon) lost a age-discrimination lawsuit back in the early to mid 90s after a massive layoff on the Wireline side. I was a Central Office Engineer when NYNEX was forced to rehire a bunch of people and paid out back pay. It seems to be a similar situation. Good Luck.
I was let go and I am 32.
I don't think HP 30,000 jobs are included in that figure
U.S. companies laid off 58,877 workers in September, according to data released Thursday by Challenger, Gray & Christmas. September layoffs are up 43% from August when about 41,000 workers were let go.
In total, employers have announced 493,431 planned layoffs so far this year, a 36% jump over the same period last year and 2% more than the 2014 total.
“Job cuts have already surpassed last year’s total and are on track to end the year as the highest annual total since 2009, when nearly 1.3 million layoffs were announced at the tail-end of the recession,” said John A. Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Yes my situation was different. Class Action is likely to be more powerful. I just wanted to point out the fight is not with the internal Vz lawyers - there are skilled business lawyers on the outside who do nothing but this type of work supporting Verizon and they put their blessing on each and every lay off before it happens. Do review the lists, and seek legal review. The severance documents will even tell you of the right to seek legal counsel and yes you need to file with the EEOC within a short window of time, so don't delay if you plan to go this route. I'm not sure about signing the waiver and still filing a lawsuit. My attorney advised against signing. I wish all of you the best of luck and try not to despair. You're in a unique situation that you have each other - and there is power in numbers. For those still employed, you might want to give serious consideration to organizing. i was in management with no protection - all of the union workers in my shop were given employment in other positions in the company when the office closed.
Just found the link to EEOC and how to file a complaint. I highly recommend everyone notified of a RIF file: http://www.eeoc.gov/federal/fed_employees/filing_complaint.cfm
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If it's because of redundancies, why are they currently hiring positions just laid off?
To Anonymous188142: I'm from Wireline, there was no redundancy in my case. I was the oldest most senior Management employee in my group. I was provided with a spreadsheet that disclosed all the ages and years of service of people in my RIF group. News flash ! they were all people in the late 40's to 50's with over 15 years of service. Stop being a company stooge by trying to write negative comments about why a Class Action Lawsuit is a non-starter. NYNEX has been found guilty of doing it before.
I hear a lot of people saying wait til the media finds out...why aren't you expediting that by filling them in? The more you chat about it on here the more time that's wasted and the more people that'll let go.
The people let go in Tempe weren't redundant. The reorganization of the regions didn't suddenly make less cell sites but cell techs lost their jobs. Makes absolutely no sense in our market.
Getting fired is no fun, but from the news reports I've read, it looks like a lot of it is coming from consolidation of regions. That's usually creates redundancies - one person covers the scope of 6 etc. If you happen to be in one of those regional positions, the job went away regardless of your age.
I also heard of several people who were out on medical leave and/or had used a significant amount of medical leave being let go. That certainly sounds like discrimination to me. Everyone laid off who feels they were targeted because of something that is protected under the law (age, disability, medical leave status, race etc) needs to file a complaint with the EEOC.
Dang it. Typed out a huge reply and then it didnt post.
EEOC people! You cant waive your rights to complain to the EEOC. So you can take your severance and still complain.
But, if you're over 40 you have a 45 day review period mandated by law. So have your case reviewed by a lawyer. They are required to give you a list of names and ages of all the people let and kept, so you can make an educated decision on whether to sign the waiver and take the severance. Don't just blindly take the money. Actually review the papers they give you and ask an attorney to review them.
And in the end, if you still feel its discrimination contact the EEOC.
I agree. There is nothing that bothers me more. "Smugly getting away with it."
I hear you, but again, your's was persued on an individual basis. I'm talking about a Class Action Lawsuit, with hundreds of complainants regardless if you took a package. What else do you do under duress ? Verizon is violating the Constitutional rights of it's employees and smugly getting away with it.
I'm sorry about that, Anon191, you raise a valid point. Do you think a class action suit would entail the same risk?
When they were NYNEX they were taken to court for the same reason "age discrimination" seems to be a past practice.... NY Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/1993/03/21/nyregion/when-being-an-old-hand-becomes-a-handicap.html?pagewanted=all
If we could get this on the news, I think more than a few attorneys would be trying to get OUR attention. Sure, VZ has money and a team of lawyers, but that means nothing in the court of public opinion.
Be prepared to go without for awhile if you choose this route. Was riffed from wireline several years ago, retained a lawyer during the 30day waiting period. Initially had to pay hrly fee (which rose to $4000 total due within a few weeks). After reviewing the case and back and forth between Vz lawyers and mine, he was eager to take my case on contingency and felt sure I would win in court, (but he was fairly certain they would settle before it got to court.) Only catch - no signing of waiver - no severance $ - no free benefits for the 35week period. I would have to live off 401k money until they settled. Being under 59 1/2 that meant penalties to pay and of course taxes. He was honest with me in saying it could take a yr or two to reach settlement and there was no guarantee on how much I could end up with in the end. (contingency fee was 40%). I went so far as to advise him to proceed - and within 24hrs Vz had turned the case over to the highest paid, most affluent private law firm in town - yes they have the best on retainer. Sorry to say, I didn't have the courage to move forward. Signed the waiver took my money and left. Not sure what I would have done if there had been more numbers let go at the same time and had class action possibilities - I was alone.
Anybody knows a good attorney, that would like to look at this case?
Can you imagine when clips of that BS video are obtained by the media? I think they overlooked "inconvenient legalities" in their zeal to produce a polished piece of marketing crap. They will probably end up regretting ever making that video.
Excellent point, 142. Considering the current climate in regards to "Millenials vs. Boomers" , its the kind of press that could sway a company to settle. Public opinion is huge. Social media allows for the spread of information like never before. Companies DO NOT want their bad behavior hanging on the laundry line, for all to see.
Signing the waiver is like confessing under torture. VZ's flunky Lawyers, who lose every case they have, cannot violate the Law. This is open season on People with 15 or more years of service, at the top of their pay scale, generally people in their late 40's to 50's
You must choose, signing the waver to get your severance package, or finding a lawyer that will take your case, and no severance package, Harsh!!
correction " Their" 50's darn auto completion...