In lead up to claims offices closures people using FMLA and extended sick leave were set up for failure and eliminated by being given huge inventories all at once, hundreds of files at once, with insufficient time to review, then put on new assignments. They were meant to be punished and eliminated.
We have seen taken away our PV, PSL and PSL109 in Sept 2016 - a benefit promised to us all when we were hired. Now, replaced with PTO and point system with time clock and T2 you could quickly run into 8-16-20 points with a few illnesses. We have crowded cubicle conditions and coworkers coming to work sick. You hear the coughing then see the people getting sick row by row. Then they can get rid of you if they want.
They have layered the strategy to be able to get people out the door and avoid large severance exposures for last several years.
Unethical.
FMLA retaliation is illegal. Not sure how many are out there that went through this. Off top of head can think of 5-6 in my work area.
Their overall plan and behavior appears to have malicious intent to get rid of people who would get larger severance and more pension by office closures. Every month sooner is pension and benefits savings for company.
Claims Managers and Section Managers carrying out plan get offers of basically 2-3 years of pay plus retirement (if they are old enough, which most of them are).
The coming waves of actual closings will ultimately tell the story of what they do with each of the thousands of employees.