Reading the posts so far it seems pretty obvious that employment rights been violated on pretty all fronts and I was wondering if there might be other employees willing to file a class action lawsuit and if there might be already some initiative ongoing that one could join (from what I red here/ heard from colleagues so far) wrongful termination, the selection process of the redundancy, the lack of data transparency and unwillingness to hand out personal data, harassment, discrimination, unfair dismissal, retaliation, hostile work environments, disability, gender, age, pay etc it seems the list is very long…
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FYI - Disney employees are suing Disney for moving them one place to another place and for false promises.
That’s the illusion they are trying to create…first going quiet and letting people wait until everyone is getting inpatient and then quickly sign xyz agreement by Friday.
Most scams actually work that way by creating an artificial sense of urgency to trigger an impulse irrational reaction hoping that fear will be the decision maker. Te------ts or fraudster also famously operating like this since the beginning of all time. But when did this BS ever impressed let alone worked on anyone with a little bit of sound judgement?
Are te------ts and fraudster really that sophisticated after all? No they are not, they bet on people being naive and inexperienced.
In a way I would expect more sophisticated psychological warfare from an organization that big with so called unlimited resources. Maybe all the resources and lawyers make the organization on the contrary very dull and passive.
Why else would all these illegal employment practices happen in the first place? If the firm and all the lawyers are so smart and powerful, why not dealing with issues before they arise ? I don’t think that all this hiring, firing, negotiating and manipulating is actually cost effective let alone creates revenue…sounds more like damage control and fire fighting.
We are not dealing with masterminds and geniuses but with a chaotic mess that is using these low level methods like intimidation and psychological warfare out of desperation and ignorance because each of them is afraid of their own job.
It’s an illusion that one loses its severance pay by not signing and going to court. All you do is going to a bigger negotiation table with a judge and more public attention because the more attention one creates the safer for the employee as this way harder to bs or intimidate in front of a judge or in front of the media.
Also there is no element of luck, no dice rolled or loss of control. On the contrary the closer the tribunal date approaches the closer to justice and the more any wrongdoing will become public and evident.
- Not handing out personal data: weakness
- trying to get rid of claims with severance packages: weakness,
- playing psychological warfare on employees: weakness
- wanting to fire people but not being able to afford severance: weakness
- applying at the court to make the employee pay for the legal fees : weakness and almost always a sign that they case is already lost before a judge even looks at it…
So please don’t buy those quite frankly old and simple tricks. We are dealing with pretty mediocre people using pretty mediocre methods. Reigning with fear is a sign of weakness and all the lack of information, chaos is intended to make more people quit instead of paying severance. They even write on the HR files to treat people nasty so they leave and hence while so reluctant handing those out …
So it’s not true that the employees are the weak helpless victims, in most countries in which citi operates governs rule of law and time to toughen up and demand justice and get them to change their arrogant attitude towards employees. No matter what bullsh-t documents they send or lies they tell. Just call their bluff and go to court !
Folks: basic contract law: you get something for giving up something else (consideration). You get $$$$ (severance) for waiving claims. There is no federal law that says one is entitled to severance. Only WARN.
Feel you have a case? Don’t sign and roll the dice. Do what’s best for you.
It does not sound right that they make you sign a waiver before paying you severance. If this IS true, might I suggest you run it by a lawyer for advisement. They can tell you upfront if that is legal of not. If it is not, then take them to court.
Can you imagine, you sign your waiver in order to get your severance and then they let the months go by before paying it or don’t pay it at all.
Best is to take actions, that’s the language they understand. Don’t sign anything, they always do what is cheapest to them. They don’t fire but want people to quit themselves and bully people until they quit, they make you sign a paper because they know that you have other valid claims. So in a way those papers are a sign of weakness.
Post ID: @4hda+1t0yMKnU There are exceptions to the waiver. For example, if Citi does Not fulfill its obligations to pay your WARN and Severance within x-number of weeks after your last paycheck. You need to talk to an employee-plaintiff side employment lawyer.
When we sign our severance agreement, we waive the right to sue. This shouldn't be legal.
Well you can always let them submit their fake data and then appeal it, no problem. FCA probably very interested in such cases…in my case for instance I do know what data exists and therefore no way to hide things…
Either way, receiving your data when leaving the company is your right and it doesn’t take much time to submit a formal letter… then it’s on citi to decide whether they lie or not and what the implications are of their felonies. I am sure they pay enough people to weight the situation
Post ID: @3pcw+1t0yMKnU Yes because employees trust Citi to Not destroy, bury, hide or alter the facts/information. NOT!!!Anyone who believes this has their Head so far up their A$S they have SH!T for brains. That's why Citi and Anand Selva are getting sued by a FIRED employee for doing exactly this ! https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/ex-citi-banker-says-she-was-fired-refusing-give-false-data-regulator-2024-05-22/
Lying to the court is a very big felony, I doubt citi would do that. Easier to lose a lawsuit than committing a fraud crime this publicly.
So please do not hesitate submitting your data request, the company has to provide the information.
@2nua+1t0yMKnU
I second this, and its already proven with Citi's grey questionable ethics they do internally that many know about and even the facts that regulations have been investigating from a few years ago that Citi has violated. There are more skeletons in the closet that may never see the light of day. I would not put it past Citi for evidence tampering to protect themselves.
Who watches the watchers. So you say that Citi, who safeguards the company emails and chats, have to turn said communique over to the courts if it gets to that……
who’s to say they won’t tamper with it or delete it. “here you go officer of the court all of the communications. As you can see there’s nothing there”. What’s to keep Citi from removing all evidence as the evidence in question is in their care. You are after all forbidden to forward any work related emails outside of the company.
That’s why it’s important to escalate these matters to the regulators and tribunals. Citi has to hand out personal data (all emails mentioning you often from management and HR, personal HR file, all emails & slack chat)
- Data Access Request
- File lawsuit to tribunal
- Escalate to the regulator that data has not been provided
- Inform Tribunal that citi is withholding evidence needed for the tribunal case
- Tribunal case itself
Withholding personal data is illegal on its own and judges hate it when companies do that, no matter how big or resourceful.
Citi is getting away with it under the guise of job eliminations. When employees are laid off, the script clearly states ‘your position has been eliminated’. There is no rime or reason other than that, so they can pick and choose whoever they want to lay off and ‘eliminate’ that position. All discriminatory elements are hidden under that guise with no way to unravel the real reason for the layoff.
Quite frankly change is the best for everyone, even for citi and current employees.
Why is tech attracting the smartest and brightest people and citi can’t get it’s hiring strategy right ?! Because the work environment is so toxic and hostile.
So by escalating wrongdoing to regulators and tribunals one is actually changing things and it’s actually the best self defense. Also what do you have to lose? They already decided against you by their wrongdoings…Anyway no other choice than moving on.
So what’s the harm of formalizing your concern and let the tribunals and regulators decide about it in a formal and safe way. By escalating a case one is creating a track record and this way actually the safest route to protect yourself against any type of wrongdoing in the future to avoid retaliation and other harmful practices.
I’m sure there are quite a few lawyers who will take a case against Citi on contingency.
In other words, they don’t get paid unless they win. Hungry lawyers wanting to make a name for themselves as a David against Goliath. If you do go the route of a lawsuit, then sue for compensatory damages, stress and anguish, harassment and intimidation, plus legal fees. Don’t forget to factor in legal fees into the dollar amount.
The post made by @1fhy+1t0yMKnU resonates well and I’m sure Citi legal is reading it with squinted eyes. Citi legal is all about intimidation and fine print victories, other than that, they’ve got nothing other than trying to negotiate out of court settlements. Just look at the history of all of the Citi lost lawsuits along with fines after fines after fines. I’m sure there are times where they win against the little guy but don’t be intimidated by deep pocket legal financing. If your case is sound, and you are patient and persistent, you can win OR settle out of court for a nice $ amount.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/citi-faces-1bn-class-claim-on-discrimination-1632418.html
It is not the first time and last time and the only way of having a change is to take action rather than complaining and having them continue with their illegal employment practices.
- A class action lawsuit can be filed by a single person, we don’t need to gather online but can direct claims to the authorities and go the formal route, this way the authorities can map individuals as Citi HR and Citi legal would never file a claim against themselves and best and most direct way.
- If victims still decide to gather the safest way is via mediators: lawyers who have a track record going against citi, trade unions, employment tribunals in each country directly, ACLU, NELA, EEOC, NLRB, DOL, OSHA, EHRC, ICO, HSE but also regulators like SEC. The list of organizations is endless and most offer free telephone advice.
- Citi legal strategy consists of playing the chicken game & intimidation, they just wait until the tribunal date is coming up betting that people have no evidence or are too scared to speak up or that people settle before because they need the monthly cash flow or that victims can’t find employment. But all this is nonsense, stay calm, document your case, carry on with your life, seek new employment but make sure to file your case. The best way of healing from all the trauma is by being heard by the authorities and receiving adequate compensation & justice and citi changing its illegal employment practices. Nothing to do with greedy lawyers, this is the bare minimum and why those channels mentioned above have been created.
Medicare is 65 not 67, btw.
HR always works for Business.
Citi claims no tolerance for any form of retaliation, harassment or anything illegal. I experienced much more than I would like to mention here. And if you report it to HR/ employee relations/ethics, guess what, things get worst. To this day, I suffer from the trauma caused by Citi!
I know two other people who suffered the same fate so if you guys are serious, speak up and lets do something!
I see age and demographic are the main factors. I am 50 plus and couple of my colleagues are 40 plus. I have contacted few NYC attorneys , didn’t find it useful moreover, I am tired of this whole process so just wanted to move on and see if I can find another job. It’s a tricky situation minimum age to claim SS is 62 and one will qualify at the age of 67 for Medicare.
Employers do discriminate you by age, race etc., but they have a disclaimer about non-discrimination:-)
There were quite a few workers aged 60+ that got the ax. Those that could just signed up for social security and called it a day, but some weren't full retirement age and will still need to work. Looking for a job at 60 + is a nightmare.
Find a hungry lawyer, then leak info to the WSJ………that is the only way that you will get anything out of Citi.
People that's why it's called a Class Action Lawsuit. There is power in numbers when a group of employees or former employees band together and sue Citi to Kingdom Come.
Oh intimidation isn’t working if the law has been broken. So doesn’t matter how many lawyers the firm has. The law is the law…. Average Joe or not ;)
I am fairly optimistic that a class action lawsuit and public media attention will have a huge impact on how companies operate. Especially publicly traded companies in times of investors having to follow strict ESG guidelines, not to mention the regulator who has an eye on citi for decades…
Many people have legal insurance package, sometimes even via their spouses, so I highly recommend to make sure that everyone who experienced injustice should file their claims. The system is created exactly for employees and not for giant firms and their unlimited resources.
There are plenty of free legal resources and I highly encourage everyone not to sign those papers at the end before having spoken to several lawyers if you have experienced anything that wasn’t right. Also very important to ask for your personal data as it’s the company obligation to make all personal data available.
Those comments above seem to be clearly not from anyone impacted and most likely with the aim to intimidate, there are no such things as blacklists …it’s intimidation and retaliation is not legal
It might be better just to cut your losses and look for better employment. A few individual cases wont change the banks way of operating
Even if you win the case, you have a chance to be blacklisted in other companies and lead to employment issues for years to come. The risk is great for the employee
It would be a huge risk taking on Citi's lawyers. Citi has indispensable money to win the court case in their favor vs the average Joe