Thread regarding Ford layoffs

Fools take a knife and stab people in the back.

The wise take a knife and cut the cord and free themselves from the fools.

Chose wisdom.

Move forward.

Trust me opportunities to obtain justice / even the score will be dropped in your lap. You can choose to take them or not.

My second career after lay off took me to education and coaching. Guess whose entitled children were in my class room and who tried out for the team? Yep the LL4 who canned me. Yep he was still a xxxhole, talked trash about me to the other parents but had zero power over me.

Another ex-coworker ended up being the hiring manager for a position his ex-boss applied for years later. Guess who did not get an interview

The posters who are on here egging the OP to go to court must all be lawyers trying to sign on new clients. If you haven't figured out by now, even if you win a multimillion dollar case, it will be as a class action lawsuit, meaning the winnings will get split among everyone at your company or organization who was discriminated against. The lawyers will make millions. You as an individual will likely take home a little bit more than what your severance or buyout would have been.

That's assuming that you win. If you lose the case - which is a real possiblity because there is nothing in the post that backs up age discrimination. Not only will you be on the hook for the court cost and the legal fees, but you likely be unemployable with any company that does a background check on you. So my suggestion is to take the severance or buyout (a bird in hand is better than two in bush), chill out, and try to find a better job than wasting your time with this dumpster fire of a company.

If whoever took over your workload was already an employee when you were laid off, you were technically not replaced. Now, if this person was a new hire, then that's another matter.

It hurts I know. Been there done that. The first two weeks are rough.

Having been through this same situation, I would tell you to spend your energy more productively. Cut your ties with Ford and move on, do not give them a second more of your valuable time.

I do know one man who sued for wrongful Ford termination, he won, but needed to change to PM work as a contractor to make a living after that (ironically contracting for Fords). His payday didn’t really compensate him for the stress induced health issues he suffers from now. The lawyers took a big chunk.

If it just hurt pride and feelings, it will pass. Life has never been fair.

If it is a deep seated need for justice, write it all down and put it in a drawer. Months from now re-read and see if you still feel the same way. A 2008 lay-off victim, decided to anonymously blow the whistle on one of the C-suite years later. The exec retired after an internal investigation.

Decide what it is that is really bothering you, before you take action. You may decide you do not want to take an action. The adage “revenge is a dish best served cold” has been around for centuries for a reason.

I can empathize with your pain. I was laid off too, but unless you're close to retirement age, or have the financial means to retire please don't do this. The risk is not worth it and you'll most likely regret it.

Oh, you go right ahead, go girl!

I would definitely not sign the waiver and hire a big time attorney. Be sure to let us all know how that works out.

Sweetheart, take the severance or buyout or whatever and move on. Based on your posting, there is nothing that proves that you were discriminated against based on age. Your LL4 or manager is not compelled to "go to bat for you" or give you a promotion. Unless they laid off everyone in your department over the age of 50 and replaced them with FCG in their 20s or they explicited announced to everyone in that meeting that they have decided to replace you with someone because that person was much younger than you - it will be an uphill battle in court.

Like the other posters have said, the only time when you should consider going to court is if there is very clear objective evidence or if you are at the end of your career and have nothing else to lose by taking it to court. Take the severance or buyout money, and use the time to brush up your resume and interview and land a better paying job before the local region gets flooded with laid off unemployed ex-autoworkers

Plus - while you are spending time on dredging up facts/lawyer meetings - your peers are out there snapping up the jobs.

If I recall, the Streeter case noted below was a gentleman already at the end of his career - nothing to lose (but money/hair)! As noted you will have a social media trail that will scare off some employers.

Hey listen bucktooth, it is not discrimination to enact cost-cutting measures by any company. So, if you want to handover large sums of your hard-earned pay for nothing, go right ahead.

You have no case, get your resume updated & start applying. Common sense is many will be replaced by "younger" employees with less experience/pay with any kind of cost-cutting corporate initiative.

I hope you have some savings to pay lawyers. Going up against a large company will take a long painful fight.

You should move on with your life. Any lawsuit will show up on the internet when a future employer does a social media search on you. I wouldn’t hire you with that on your social media.

In your case, were you replaced by someone in the next lower paygrade? I heard of others like that. I can't see how that's legal, but a lawyer can tell you if it's actionable.

Hackett's own words can probably help your case:

https://www.at.ford.com/en/homepage/news-and-clipsheet/news/2019/5/srd.html

Quote: "Clearly, cost reduction is a key aspect of Smart Redesign"

Ford OGC may have already made projections of how many separated employees will sue, and probably even allocated a certain budget to settle those cases.

Also check Fett & Fields:

https://www.fettlaw.com/verdicts-and-settlements/streeter-v-ford-motor-company/

Thank you, everyone, for the replies. I feel very, very confident that my "case" is solid. No performance issues at all. I have all the post-firing calls and comments documented...big mistake, terrible loss, devastated, etc. I was replaced by someone half of my age...period. It was subjective, and that is the risk the company took. So, Carol Laughbaum is being recommended. There must be other recommendations out there. What about the guy that sued Ford in a class action several years ago? Does anyone know his name?

I do not plan to accept the waiver, until my particular case is fully vetted. I can survive on unemployment and savings for a while, so I do plan to evaluate all of my options.

Shouldn't have posted here as it is monitored. They are already prepping their defense and covering their tracks, "fixing your file". Now they will be waiting for your attorney's call. The element of surprise is lost.

Totally agree on Carol laughbaum. She won a 16.8M discrimination case against Ford last year.

What exactly do you mean? What new facts did you discover about Ford credit that caused them to fire you?

How was your most recent performance review. If they cited performance that is documented or any other reason that can be documented your going to have an uphill battle. What is in writing? They likely gained HR approval prior to your release and if HR reviewed must be more to it than indicated here. I say take your money and move on.

There is tons of this at Ford Credit. It’s shocking. Google attorney. Carol Laughbaum. You will quickly see why she is s good choice. they doesn’t work, then get to work. Start googling. Do not sign those papers until you have talked to s few lawyers. You have a case!!!!