Hello, many of the long timers on the board will recognize my handle and I am aware that many of y’all are older, wiser or more professionally suited to give me just a little guidance. a few days ago, kind of by surprised I was let go for to be exact “No longer being a state. And no longer being aligned with strategic goals and objectives” this came along with a severance offer that is in the mid five figures but really only represents about 25% of my yearly pay. obviously, I asked for any sort of example examples and there were none given. I know what a lot of of this stems from and I feel like it’s a bit retaliatory in nature against me expressing concern/blowing the whistle. I didn’t want to lay everything out here, but I was just hoping that somebody knowledgeable with tenure on the bbs would maybe engage me in a little side conversation. As mentioned, I know you’re a different handles and your longevity and I would just appreciate any insight. Y’all might be able to give.
If you documented your whistleblowing process, meaning screenshots, copies of emails, notes, dates, etc, you have a case.
Yes sir. I have a couple consultations on Monday, but a few of them it was almost difficult to communicate with because I kind of need to be able to tell the full story and because it’s not race, gender, or age related it’s just like they didn’t listen very well if that makes sense.
yes sir I absolutely think that. Yourself included. Essentially I am 40 years old and I’ve grown up on the BBS. I am under no illusion that I know everything but I do know that this is been a pretty unfair process. I am just looking for somebody that might spend a few minutes discussing it with me. Doesn’t even have to be that that is their profession, but maybe they are knowledgeable about these things or maybe it’s just something they’ve been through. having this community has been a critical part of my life and yes, it’s absolutely better than AI.
I also began to make recordings of certain meetings and conversations as we began to express our concerns. Most of the electronic proof would be in my email and other digital accounts that were held by the company, but I’m sure still exist. I believe that the straw that broke the camels back was when I made some suggestions last week about some of our safety practices.
No experience with that and not much to add. But... talk to a few lawyers and don't just sign with the most seemingly empathetic of the bunch that promises you a big settlement. If they're rushed or don't ask you questions that make you a little uncomfortable in an attempt to find the weaknesses in your case, move on. Also, be realistic. Take notes (and start documenting everything you can remember about your time there and the reason(s) why you feel you were let go). And, not to discourage you, but know the process is most likely going to be painful and that you're likely going to walk away somewhat disappointed at best. Finally, If they introduce you to people in their office, be nice to them and ask them qualifying questions--they're the people that are really going to be doing all the work on your behalf.
Push back hard, especially since you have some documentation of potential retaliatory action. You won’t get you job back but they will increase their severance package. Also, be sure to have them agree to a non-disparaging contract. I do personally know an employment lawyer (whatever they are called). Nice guy. Good firm. It’s worth the piece of mind. If you want the info, message me
lol no. broadcasting and soliciting advice from random strangers is not the best course of action. Or second. or third. There are only a small handful of people on here that I would solicit input and only on very specific topics. Unless peoples lives are in significant danger or large sums of money are involved, just find peace and move on. But it seems you're more concerned about the severance. You're better off spending a few weeks talking to an occupational therapist.
My boss got fired a few years ago on a bogus HR issue, they came in with an armed guard (overkill) unannounced, fired him on the spot with little to no "real" reason other than "conduct unbecoming", it ended up being a fired employee who lied. He got a lawyer and at the end of the day there wasn't anything they could do, he was in a protected class due to age, no real evidence and I was quite surprised they could not do anything. Texas is a right to work state and as long as I have lived here I have fired plenty of folks who sometimes threaten to sue but nothing ever happens. I wish you luck, hard proof is the key, you need it, your employer not so much and don't expect to get cooperation for any prior communications via your e-mail and such
This isn’t bad advice, and I appreciate it. To be honest, the job paid very very well, but wasn’t super fulfilling and took a lot of effort to pretty much 350 days a year. as you mentioned, I have run into a couple lawyers who seem very eager to discuss it just to book an hour hence looking more for personal recommendations. I am well aware of Texas and the labor laws, but as I mentioned, I do have a few things documented and or recorded, and they seem to be in quite a hurry to stitch this thing up. I think they know there is some liability for them involved.
I am well aware, here of who are the random folks, strangers, weirdos, or folks that have been on the board a long time. Newsflash, you fit into the random folks category. I appreciate the at Will angle of the law, but the reality is is that I’ve done this job for 20 years and at an extremely high level for the last 5 to 10. This is nothing more than them trying to silence. Somebody who has had a few dissenting opinions on things that needed to be brought up. The whistle needed to be blown. and yes, if they want to part ways because they don’t like people that offer up any sort of constructive criticism, then far it for me to stand in the way of their running things like that. But as far as I can tell that sort of model doesn’t really work well in business or in politics. so yes, the severance is of concern. If they add an extra zero to it then I probably would be willing to sign.
Placed that put on a show when firing people are toxic places to begin with. It's just a showing and a psychological game.
I won’t give a lot more detail, but I do think that some of these companies are losing sight on the importance of experience. let’s say you have 200 or so people that you would call middle management. Do you really want all 200 to just say yes to everything all the time? what concerns me about business and politics in general in the United States is that tough conversations or dissent aren’t viewed as a benefit anymore. I don’t necessarily think it always makes the environment toxic, but I do think that it limits the environment’s ability to grow. in the case of my termination, it might be an Atwell state, but with the document they gave me they make some very specific assertions, and I do think that they should at least have to back it up a little bit. and even if they don’t, in the backdrop is the fact that I have brought to their attention a couple very critical liabilities in their own processes. In many ways, I would’ve thought that the feedback would be welcomed and appreciated. if at the end of the day, you can just Razorblade somebody that has worked 20 diligent years for you because you want to then I will accept that, but I don’t necessarily agree with it and I definitely intend to test it a little bit.
Honestly at this point would you really want to stay regardless who is at fault? Is this juice worth the squeeze? I'd say move on...unless you absolutely can't
The hidden cost when you lay off tenured employees is loss of institutional knowledge. This is understanding the deep ins and outs of how a company works, who to talk to, where to go, etc. That can't ever be replaced, and the bigger the company, the more important and complex it is.
This is very well said. Not only that, but over the last decade, we have taken a giant leap in the complexity of the business and in difficulties with our hiring pool and frankly a bunch of easily preventable errors in technology. I am 100% guilty of always being opinionated, but it was never rude and it was often just the counter argument. We have lost so much institutional knowledge over the last decade that it’s just scary. I’ve definitely been aware that the brand is on its last decade or so, but they adopted this concept of always counting on the human variable as a constant at a very high and knowledgeable level and that’s just been lost. The problem is is that in all of the projections that was just a continued mistake.
