Thread regarding Bank of New York Mellon Corp. layoffs

@OP Hi! Recently going thru same situation as everyone else in this blog. 19 years let go, no severance. Bogus performance review. Great overall career at BNY and then blindsided. If there is anyone who was successful in MA, can you please share their attorney contact? Would be greatly appreciated.

@105 has anyone spoken with Sabrina about this yet?

@1h5 This lawyer filed a lawsuit on behalf of another ex BNY employee earlier this month. He is based in DE, but is admitted to the bar in DE and PA.

gjunge@schmittrod.com

@1sv
It isn’t your fault. And as far as staying 28 years, don’t regret it. Think of all the lives you touched and made a difference in by being a fine employee here….
You did your time. And you had to do it somewhere anyway. BNY has changed for the worse. It was once a fine and dignified ethical company. No longer so.

I blamed myself initially, saying I must've done something wrong since July. All reviews were mets or exceeds for 28yrs. Never had a PiP. Never had a difficult conversation. Never received an email that said I'm on a warning for "x" reason(s). The initial shock wore off and it became clear that it's a strategy and nothing else. What is crystal clear is they do not care about you. At all. Saying "performance" is not about the job you did. They're absolutely banking (no pun intended) on you taking whatever they give. When you fight it, then they'll either cave or dig into your past. ANY mistake, misuse, or violation of any kind will be discovered and used as the pretext for the performance dismissal. And because we are human, infallible and have certainly made mistakes, it will be tough to defend. They're banking on that. It's been less than a week so I'm at the beginning but I feel you have to push back. It's all horse$sh-t and a disgusting way to treat employees, especially those who gave most of their adult life to this place. And everyone I know who's been axed this week have 20+yrs. It screams age discrimination. And for those folks still there, I'll be praying for you. I never thought I'd say this, but I regret staying there when I had chances to leave. It's all been a waste. Fight the power.

@1nd
40% seems to be the cost for your attorneys. And that is a bit on the high end. But if they promise results, it’s worth it. And no, there are no punitive damages. Especially if it’s settlement. Punitive damages are only awarded by a court. You will pay your attorneys fees not the disgusting and disreputable BNY.

Does 40% of amount recovered seem fair, as quoted from attorney? It’s confusing if they ask for legal fees in settlement.

Talked to an attorney in NY. He advised it's best to have representation in the city I worked in.

@1h5 try reed smith they rep you virtually.
go for punitive damages bny will be responsible for your attorney fees if and most likely bny folds settles out of court

@1h5
I am so sorry. This is like a crime really. 29 years of doing the job and being a relied upon, knowledgeable professional only to be treated shabbily and classlessly. When you feel a little better, can you tell us what the rational was? How did they lie and paint you as some misfit and sc--w up? You are owed 52 weeks. Dont sign anything until you get an attorney. They dont necessarily have to be in Pittsburgh either.

Can someone please provide a employment lawyer in Pittsburgh? This happened to me today, after being with the company 29 years. Offering 60 days of severance on made up PIP.

@nx Great call on WSJ. I think it would also make sense to contact Sabrina Kharrazi at Ignites.com (a Financial Times publication). She's their law reporter and wrote an article about a pending lawsuit along these lines on November 4 (Check the thread on the federal lawsuit below—it's misspelled in the title as "BUY Sued").

She already knows the story and would likely love to get more evidence. Her email is sabrina.kharrazi@ft.com. There's also a contact form on their site to submit stories or info.

--Please state which attorney (Reed Smith?) to contact to join.

--And WSJ tip line? Obvi we need critical mass to tell factual statements of experiences.

I am specifically trying to get an investigation into the 401K 7% match layoff scheme under RV, that began in 2023, when I believe he gave himself a $2M raise - on the backs of the employees he took retirement money from (bait and switch/wage-benefit theft).

Curious to know how many people were targeted as they were very close to vesting, and then forced under economic duress to leave accrued, earned benefit money on the table.

Need to know there is cohesion here, so please respond if others are participating and with whom?

Can respond "I'm in- Red smith (or name of lawyer)" or "I'm in-WSJ" if you are joining the critical mass needed. The starter of this thread is 100% right.

STAND UP TO BULLIES.

@jn
That’s bull droppings.
Any settlement is not going to include your attorney fees.

@ps
You really arent suffering any loss.
Any good attorney probably would tell you it isn’t worth their time.

Is it worth contacting an attorney if I was only there for a year and some change? I’m still getting the 3 month severance offer in January since they are letting me go for made up reasons.

@nx also contact my friend Nina , I told her and gave referrals. She ready move on it if she gets enough email contacts
https://abc7ny.com/post/contact-7-side-nina-pineda/126197/

@hz absolutely and every single person here should contact the media to raise enough eyebrows about the topic. They have an email for topic suggestions
cwc-news@interactive.wsj.com. Make sure the subject mentions BNY financial institutions firing US employees and falsifying performance ratings to help do so. We have to get media attention

@he You tell them!

@hz bny will be responsible for your attorney fees as part of any settlement out of court.. if they lose in court it could be 5x what was due and bad press.

@d5 yes, of course need to pay attorney. It varies on how that works. From my particular experience could pay by hour or contingency. By hour will work out best if have that option and procure right attorney. Won’t take many hours. BNY caves quick. They have no competent attorneys. I’ll add whatever payment you receive is taxable in the same way as ordinary wages if you were working there. All good, whatever you pay the attorney is well worth it. Would be difficult if not impossible without one. I don’t think what BNY is doing is going to end anytime soon. It will take someone to publicly blow the lid off of it - Wall Street Journal featured article would probably do it. As of right now, they are no doubt betting there are less people like me who will push back and more that will cave. In the end that all washes out with them winning. From what I have seen so far, they are right. More cave than fight.

@f9 sybau. You sound d-mb. Go try to feel important someone else

@at I got laid off in 2017 despite having the best performance review in my department.
To add insult to injury statements were made to staff that I was let go basically because of age. Talked to an attorney but decided to just take my minimal severance and walk away.

And if you are stupid enough to still be doing business with dumpster fire BNY, you deserve what you get.

@ab appreciate what you have shared as it gives people hope there is a chance to do something about this after all . BNY needs to be held accountable and should be listed in the public eye for what they are doing

Glad to hear reports of success retaining counsel and winning back your severance. Assume you're out the contingency fee in these cases though? 20% or 30% or more?

For a minute, I thought everyone in this thread was ready to put on the boxing gloves and really fight someone. Now I’m sad.

I had Steve from Accounting at +570 odds to knockout RV in the 1st round

@at Right for sure about most not fighting and will take the watered down to nothing severance and sign release to never disparage BNY so they can cover bills for a couple months. That said, not exactly simple to replace job quickly. If you push them, they will pay you more than a watered down severance. That’s the point I’m trying to make here. What they are doing is unethical and can easily be challenged. They have zero effective internal counsel. When you take legal action on them, they need to pay outsourced attorneys. Most from Reed Smith. They don’t want that. They simply want you to go away quietly. The point of OP is don’t allow them to do it. Fight back!

BNY has to eliminate a certain percentage of employees every year. Managers have no control over the forced ratings (a percentage of employees that fall into the does not meet category). Once you are rated a does not meet- your job is eliminated. Not many people fight back because they need the severance money to survive. Unfortunately- a lot of companies are laying people off but it is unsettling the way BNY is being so cut throat with employees that have been around for years. For those who are still employed- I wish you the best of luck. I hear things are only going to get worse.

Agree with OP. I had a successful career at BNYM (I was sc--wed) In 2024 before the name change. Got moved under a narcissist who used a check the box method to deem some pretty important stuff “complete”. We didn’t get along. Despite being told by others to be a “yes” man to survive under her, I could not. My year end performance discussion was a screaming match. She made up sh-t that was just unbelievable. She and her spineless manager blocked a move I was offered. When I wouldn’t back down she lost it telling me “I could learn how to work for her or go elsewhere, either was fine with her”. Her exact words. All the while, knowing she was making me redundant in a few weeks. Guess it pi---d her off that I was trying to get the he-l away from her. She was a recently promoted DM - the title is laughable - everyone knew it. Worst person I’ve ever had to report to.

@af exactly. Thank you!

@aa I’m sure your manager was not great. Plenty of those. I’m trying to make a broader point here though. To all of you still there, your manager whether you like them or not personally honestly has no control over what will ultimately happen to you. It’s a systemic purge they do not control. Do all of you realize your performance rating was done by managers a couple levels up at beginning of October before you entered any comments? They won’t even read your comments. I wish this was all a joke but it’s not

@a5 yep, they need to pay dearly those mother fuggers. 2 POS, that is hope Karma hits then dearly. No, you can't blame your direct managers, but grow some ba--s and push back.

@a5 you are correct. They are banking people won’t go after them and plenty don’t. I know some personally. As an example, one fellow was there 25 years and let go with two months severance with no reason. That’s nonsense. He didn’t do anything about it. I did something about it. It’s one of those situations need to fight back. I’ll again say I had a great career there and not venting. Is simply really bad in there currently and is not going to change anytime soon

@a7 yes, sure. I don’t want to give away my exact identity so can’t mention specific details of where I’m located or specific law firm. What I did was interview 3 law firms. One of them had prior experience of success with BNY. I hired them, case settled with a few letters vs court. Very simple process. Protected class the most simple route given you were there 20 years - age discrimination. Despite some of the other things you see on this site, I can attest they have no attorneys or willingness to fight you. They will cave quickly. The other thing I will mention is the bogus performance review itself is not technically illegal. Subjective. I wish you the best. I built a great career there as mentioned. Current state of place is really bad.

@a7 the main reason I left bny was 99.99% because of the incompetent, selfish and disgusting manager, who happened to “manage “ me for a short period of time. She is a lifer with bny and has been with current job function for 8 years, shockingly still has minimal knowledge of the job function. She doesn’t know how to use Microsoft office, kept pinging me about same very basic questions over and over. She also took my credits to butt licking her new manager.
The bogus mid-year review was just a final push. To be honest, I’m still grateful about this 241 years old company and proud of being a part of it.

@OP i agree. Can you share the steps you took to push back so others have an idea what steps to take? Did you just open a ticket with HR or take another route to get it resolved. What’s happening right now is beyond anything I've seen in my 20 plus years here. Not just forced ratings including holding it against those with OT issues, and forced wfh are also targeted and being discriminated against for a status they didnt ask to be in.

@a5 that is true and I suspect will happen at some point but is not the current state. I’m more concerned about thousands of individuals who are about to be wronged. They have no competent attorneys at BNY. Go after them!

They are banking on the fact that people won’t sue. We pretty much all have a case. The only way their illegal behavior will stop though is if a judge hits them with massive punitive damages.