Thread regarding Nielsen layoffs

I've had a lawsuit against an employer, many years ago (not Nielsen), and even with very obvious evidence of wrong doing, the suit went nowhere. This stuff is extremely hard to prove, expensive, and can take years. Is it worth pursuing? Definitely. But understand this is more than just people being lazy or just being unmotivated to fight for their rights. The laws in the US, and I only speak for the US, are NOT on our side. A company being a--holes and slashing severance and outsourcing, isn't illegal. It's sh---y and makes them heartless monsters but it's not illegal. No company is even required to offer any severance at all. The horrible people who bought Nielsen's debt are not new at this, they know the laws are on their side, they wouldn't do any of this without crossing all their T's and dotting those I's.

Now everyone's situation is different, if you have been discriminated against, se-----y harassed, not paid for time you worked (especially for hourly earners), etc then yes you have more ground to stand on. The rest of this is just sh---y but not uncommon practice. Many companies are doing this offshoring now, and some aren't giving any severance at all and don't seem to care if they violate the Warn Act because, as it turns out, at least in NY, there is no one investigating Warn Act violations (I personally called the Department of Labor and they had no idea wtf I was talking about, so).

I would see legal consultation if you feel the need, definitely. You can also reach out to your local elected representatives, many in NYC as example will at least pretend to care a bit about labor issues and might help direct you on a per case basis. But otherwise, this is just the deal, while Nielsen su-ks for doing this, the root problem is that US labor laws encourage this behavior and protect it. The change must start there or this will continue to play out over and over. I've been laid off a few times because what I do is off shored all the time. There is no protecting American labor. The rot starts federally.

Assuming no-one here is qualified to speak on the complexities of US labor laws and what can / cannot be accomplished through a class action lawsuit.

All of the "there was a time when ..." posts are irrelevant to the fact that Nielsen has done many wrongdoings, of which an experienced and well qualified attorney could shed more light on what avenues we have as employees and former employees to fight back and hold the company and consultants accountable.

Stop dismissing your rights as a worker, and heading into a fight already defeated.

Good morning and thank you to the last post by putting the spotlight on the Townhall attendees. You do realize that that Nielsen can check to see who attended the last Townhall. So now they will pull up the list of attendees and spend their time looking for who may be the person who made those comments and making assumptions that will impact everyone. Everyone is worried if they will be next and now you have added even more stress as Nielsen will be looking for any disgruntled employees. While they should be worried about the employees mental health now they spend their time wondering who dared to post such comments. If you think this should be below Nielsen leaders then you are lying to yourself because they spend more time spreading rumors and covering up there mistakes. You have just given them something to do for the week.

Cutting severance in half and capping long term employees at 26 weeks of severance will lead to financial hardship for said employees. Last Scarborough Townhall had an employee reaching her 40th year of employment. If this person were to be part of the layoffs, she would be under extreme financial hardship with only 26 weeks of severance. Not that Elliott Mgmt cares as they have covered their legal butts that leave you with no choice but to accept the severance package. Once you sign the document, you will have given up your rights to file a lawsuit. Florida residents do not have many job opportunities that pay enough to support yourself let alone a family. Happy Holidays everyone.

I know a few coworkers from my team who did go to lawyers over their severance, and all of these issues and there was no case. Maybe it'll vary state by state. But so far, there is no case.

This is also the history of what Elliot Mgmt does, they buy up debt, whittle down the companies for their maximum earning potential, and toss the labor force aside. It's been slimy and awful but not illegal. They've even bankrupt countries and go to international courts to force their way, destroying state pension plans pushing people into poverty and ruin. We are at will employment in most of the US with sh-t labor protections. I don't really know what recourse we have until actual laws are changed. I'm open to ideas, I don't mean to be a downer, it's just the reality.

The cutting severance in half was the most disgusting and out of touch thing they could have ever done. You've got KR making an eight figure salary along with the rest of the millionaire parasite social leaches in the C-suite making decisions that severely negatively impact everybody they've let go so they can squeeze out an extra few bucks for the Private Equity Overlords who bought this company. It's literally sick.

Did MORE layoffs occur today or this week? Field reps too?

I just don't know that there is a case because they don't have to provide severance at all, legally. Employment in the US is at will, so there's nothing to get them for there, they're allowed to terminate for the fun of it and not have an explanation. That's the RIF letters they sent...there's their reason, so that covers them.

Are they allowed to layoff over a year and a half while doubling workloads...probably not, but the onus of proof is on us, I think.

Call a lawyer and see what they say because I'm certainly no lawyer - maybe there's more that I'm missing.

"I looked this up when they announced it (I had a class-action lawsuit in mind when they finally came to axe me), and unbelievably, it turns out ..."

Let's let lawyers determine that, and what we are due in court.

Emotional distress created through toxic working environments, job loss and tactics of intimidation have their own place in court. Nielsen sued then re-instating full severances for every year employed for everyone, with letters of RIF versus termination PLUS lawyers fees and negative media press (for me) would be a good starting point.

Adding my experience when the link is posted and will be mentioning specific TL's and managers as facilitators of this ongoing corporate beatdown.

If you've been involved with these corporate decisions and have knowingly subjected your coworkers and teams under you to the ongoing abuse dished out by Nielsen, you're an accomplice IMO and should be held accountable just like every other sc*mbag in the company.

Time to hold people accountable, and can't wait to join in and drop some names.

Halving the severance was the act of d!ckheaded sl!meballs, especially when those who make more than 200K per year get their full two weeks for every year. It should have been the other way around, but of course management is going to take care of management. F-kkers.

I looked this up when they announced it (I had a class-action lawsuit in mind when they finally came to axe me), and unbelievably, it turns out that US Labor Law does not mandate any kind of severance pay at all.

https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/wages/severancepay

So unfortunately, this aspect cannot make it into any kind of lawsuit. Isn't it amazing how the sl¡meball corporates got the government to shaft us little folks? Three cheers for corporate greed....

I just sent this to four colleagues. Thx.

Add intimidation to the list. I'm in.

If this is already in progress great, but if not I can seek out legal council and upon accepting our case will post the link to the law firm and lawsuit here for others to contact with their stories, and to share with others.

I'm sure there are hundreds to thousands of current / former Nielsen and subsidiary employees here that have been maliciously targeted for doing nothing more but showing up everyday and doing their jobs, and for the sole reason of corporate greed have been placed in the crosshairs of the company.