Did the company where I was employed violate sex and/or age discrimination and/or retaliatory action laws? If so, should I sue or accept a severance agreement that I expect to contain legal waivers?
I was recently laid off after 20+ years with a large company. Two other employees were fired just prior (not laid off). They had been with the company about two years each.
I am a white female over 50, as is one of the employees fired. The other is a black female, late 20's. We were all interviewed in a company HR investigation of age bias a few months prior, based on a complaint regarding disparate treatment and bullying by my manager. We each had similar problems with the manager and noticed apparent favoritism of two other employees in the department, both about the same age as the manager (mid-30's). The favored employees have the same type of position as me and have been with the company more than two years each. One is male.
HR said its investigation found no evidence of age bias or disparate treatment, that the manager when under stress or pressure treated everyone badly. HR said the manager was put on notice. The manager behaved well for months.
Less than two months before the firings and layoff, our department was abolished and department staff was placed in different departments with different managers. The manager was assigned to a different department and to a different manager. One of the apparently favored employees was also assigned to that department and the other favored employee was assigned to a different department and manager. Both continued to have the same type of position as me. I, the younger fired employee and two other department staff were assigned to a newly created department with a different manager. The older fired employee had been transferred to a different department months before the HR investigation.
The older employee was fired shortly after the restructuring and reporting changes. The second employee was fired a couple of weeks later and I was laid off two weeks later. I was told the reason is my position is not needed in the new department. The two employees with the same type of position as me and who the manager appeared to favor remain. I was an exemplary employee with an excellent performance and positive performance reviews.
I was recently laid off after 20+ years with a large company. Two other employees were fired just prior (not laid off). They had been with the company about two years each.
I am a white female over 50, as is one of the employees fired. The other is a black female, late 20's. We were all interviewed in a company HR investigation of age bias a few months prior, based on a complaint regarding disparate treatment and bullying by my manager. We each had similar problems with the manager and noticed apparent favoritism of two other employees in the department, both about the same age as the manager (mid-30's). The favored employees have the same type of position as me and have been with the company more than two years each. One is male.
HR said its investigation found no evidence of age bias or disparate treatment, that the manager when under stress or pressure treated everyone badly. HR said the manager was put on notice. The manager behaved well for months.
Less than two months before the firings and layoff, our department was abolished and department staff was placed in different departments with different managers. The manager was assigned to a different department and to a different manager. One of the apparently favored employees was also assigned to that department and the other favored employee was assigned to a different department and manager. Both continued to have the same type of position as me. I, the younger fired employee and two other department staff were assigned to a newly created department with a different manager. The older fired employee had been transferred to a different department months before the HR investigation.
The older employee was fired shortly after the restructuring and reporting changes. The second employee was fired a couple of weeks later and I was laid off two weeks later. I was told the reason is my position is not needed in the new department. The two employees with the same type of position as me and who the manager appeared to favor remain. I was an exemplary employee with an excellent performance and positive performance reviews.
