Thread regarding SAS Institute layoffs

Age Discrimination

The fact that most of the people let go in the recent batch of SAS layoffs are in their 50's may pose a problem for the company. It has been illegal for more than 50 years for an employer to use age as a criteria in hiring or firing. It’s worth a call to an experienced labor relations lawyer to see if you have a case. You probably won’t get your job back but you might enhance your severance package.

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| 3132 views | | 14 replies (last August 11, 2023) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+1nHVmYPS

14 replies (most recent on top)

I’d record the interview if legal. My dad when through the same thing several years ago. But they hired him and sent all the paperwork, then they pulled it after he filled out everything. He sued, he won.

Yes SAS discriminates, hard to prove, but the have more lawyers than you. Maybe a class action if you find enough people.

I truly see the company running with no rudder. And frankly with what I’m seeing, I’d prefer to work elsewhere….but you know…the age thing.

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Post ID: @mvvk+1nHVmYPS

"Phone interviews went great but as soon as they saw me in person or over the web I suddenly wasn't a good fit."

I'm 63 and the same thing kept happening to me. I started wearing True Religion t-shirts in interviews, sunglasses, and backwards hat. I said "no cap" a few times. They thought I was 35! Got the job!

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Post ID: @7wnx+1nHVmYPS

SAS let me go a couple years back despite my having received a raise and a bonus in the same year. I was a developer in my 60s. And let me tell you that age discrimination is RAMPANT in the software industry. Phone interviews went great but as soon as they saw me in person or over the web I suddenly wasn't a good fit. Ended up doing contract work.

It's almost impossible to prove this. Good luck to you.

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Post ID: @7fuw+1nHVmYPS

QUOTE from : @4nad+1nHVmYPS

Yah. If I were hit with that law suit I'd wheel in a lap top and say "alright write some tests and commit it to Git.""

This sounds like a comment that the people who made the decisions would make. Let's disregard 20+ years of deep SAS knowledge of a particular area and demand fluency in a version control system tool.

Mind you, most of the other infrastructure in is place to effectively run and diff the tests once in Git, but then again, who cares about the details, when it's the buzz-words and the "process" that makes ALL the difference. Laughable if it wasn't so sad.

22 hours ago by Anonymous | 7 reactions (+7/-0)
Post ID: @4nad+1nHVmYPS

It should occur to folks that standardizing SAS engineering on Agile + git (with testing automated as much as possible) + CI/CD Is a huge part of making the company valuable in an IPO or acquisition/merger situation. Without these modern processes in place there is a little hope that anyone would be interested in purchasing or investing in SAS … though putting the effort into making SAS products integrate and function better would likely make SAS more profitable by satisfying actual customers instead of potential suitors.

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Post ID: @5mie+1nHVmYPS

This is nothing new at SAS or many other companies. I was "laid off" because my job was phased out. That was 10 years ago. Several people all got phased out at the same time. We were all 55+ and offered a severence package. Many signed immediately as they were arm twisted by HR to sign now or SAS might rescind the offer and simply phase you out. I called an attorney and threw it back at SAS. All they did was turn me over from HR to Legal. Legal came back with the same answer and refused to negotiate anything. Take the severence package and find another job.

I got 2 letters the same day. Dear employee;

  1. Thanks for 20 years of dedicated service.
  2. Your job is phased out and so are you, here's some cash, bye.
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Post ID: @5ovm+1nHVmYPS

Typo: ... most of the other infrastructure is NOT in place ...

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Post ID: @4csz+1nHVmYPS

"Yah. If I were hit with that law suit I'd wheel in a lap top and say "alright write some tests and commit it to Git.""

This sounds like a comment that the people who made the decisions would make. Let's disregard 20+ years of deep SAS knowledge of a particular area and demand fluency in a version control system tool.

Mind you, most of the other infrastructure in is place to effectively run and diff the tests once in Git, but then again, who cares about the details, when it's the buzz-words and the "process" that makes ALL the difference. Laughable if it wasn't so sad.

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Post ID: @4nad+1nHVmYPS

Yah. If I were hit with that law suit I'd wheel in a lap top and say "alright write some tests and commit it to Git."

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Post ID: @4xii+1nHVmYPS

Good luck with that.

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Post ID: @1wrv+1nHVmYPS

Older worker benefits protection act. No one has to sign anything immediately.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/101st-congress/senate-bill/1511#:~:text=Older%20Workers%20Benefit%20Protection%20Act%20%2D%20Title%20I%3A%20Older%20Workers%20Benefit,benefit%20plans%20are%20justified%20by

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Post ID: @vgz+1nHVmYPS

Isn’t there loophole for people 45 or older to rescind their agreement to the severance?

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Post ID: @jof+1nHVmYPS

What if a good lawyer could pierce these waivers by showing an egregious ADEA violation and ended up getting the laid off workers several more years of severance pay and health care insurance?

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Post ID: @nkv+1nHVmYPS

You can claim that you were senile when you signed it. Plead Biden!

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Post ID: @omd+1nHVmYPS

The agreement that you sign to get the severance waives your rights regarding this

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Post ID: @vop+1nHVmYPS

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