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What's especially clever here is that most people will sign to get the severance package (it's better than nothing), leaving the group who refuses to sign too s
by Joeri 9y ago
What's especially clever here is that most people will sign to get the severance package (it's better than nothing), leaving the group who refuses to sign too small to mount an effective legal defense against age discrimination (the company can just outspend them in court). Meanwhile the company can just say "we offered people a choice, and they chose" and pretend like they did nothing wrong.
This is exactly the sort of thing unions are supposed to protect people from. If something like this happened in my country there would be a general strike and the country would be at a standstill.
- vog 9y ago> If something like this happened in my country there would be a general strike and the country would be at a standstill. That sounds too good, and too progressive, to be true. Which country do you live in?
- Joeri 9y agoBelgium. We have a lot of strikes. To clarify: by something like this I meant legislation that allows behavior like this to be legal. A single company acting badly would lead to a local strike, probably not a general strike (those are for forcing government policy changes).
- johndubchak 9y agoIt's well understood that the trend is toward stripping employee's of their rights in favor of large Corporations. This, IMO, seems to have coincided with the Citizens United decision. Since that time Corporations have had many favorable outcomes from both parties.
- neves 9y agoNon American here. What is Citizens United decision and why it is important?
- chrisbennet 9y agoCitizens United was a Supreme Court decision that said money was free speech. The result is that it is perfectly legal to “bribe” U.S. politicians now.
- dantheman 9y agoNot evenly remotely true. It means that citizens don't lose their free speech rights when they form groups. It was about a group who made a "documentary" about hilary clinton and were banned from releasing it near the election.
- Dangeranger 9y agoBut the impact of the Citizens United decision has allowed dark money to flood into U.S. political system in the form of anonymous spending from "independent" political action groups. Dark money can be used for purposes akin to bribery since the speech of the group has been interpreted as political influence. While the money doesn't go directly to the candidate, it is used for their benefit or detriment during elections. It just so happens that outside political spending has risen dramatically since the SCOTUS Citizens United decision in 2009.[0] [0] https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/index.php https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/index.php
- emanresu101 9y agoMost people don't know the background of the Citizens United case. Since you do, then I'd wager that you also know the effects that it's had on campaign finance laws. The ruling overturned existing laws that limited campaign contributions from corporations while also overruling other cases that had previously limited free speech rights. > It means that citizens don't lose their free speech rights when they form groups. That's basically what the court's majority opinion stated. But the dissenting opinion also stated that the ruling provides more opportunities for corruption and for laws to be "bought and sold". So to say that GP's comments are "Not evenly remotely true" is disingenuous.
- Retra 9y ago
- IAmEveryone 9y agoDon’t be a cynic painting everyone with the same brush. Specifically, President Obama signed an executive order making arbitration clauses in employment cases unenforceable: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2014/08/obama_executive_order_on_mandatory_arbitration_huge_news_for_workers_rights.html http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudenc... The next president then reversed this. There are extremely clear distinctions between the parties, and this issue is actually a perfect example.
- vog 9y ago> The next president then reversed this. Just out of curiosity: This is very uncommon in modern democracies, isn't it? In most European countries (and maybe also in the US?) each newly elected government shows enough respect for the previous government by not reversing laws established just 1-3 years ago. They usually either concentrate on different topics, or restrict themselves to refinements and corrections of existing laws. And there's some good reason for that: You don't want a country's set of laws switching between two versions every 4-5 years without making any progress. However, since that taboo has been broken by now, maybe the next US president would have the courage to do the same with everything the current president did?
- donarb 9y agoThese were executive orders, not legislation. It is quite common for new administrations to rescind or override executive orders of previous administrations. EOs usually direct an administration to enforce department rules a certain way and a new administration is within their right to interpret them another way. Enacting legislation that specifically spells out how certain rules are to be carried out is the best way to make them concrete. Nowadays it is very difficult to enact any legislation let alone remove it.
- dragonwriter 9y ago> These were executive orders, not legislation. It is quite common for new administrations to rescind or override executive orders of previous administrations. OTOH, the US having both a weak party system and a separation of power system makes it so that, to return to the upthread question about modern democracies, it does a lot more through executive orders than many modern democracies, which often have a strong-parties parliamentary system or a weaker Presidency, so that the executive has either less ability or less motivation to issue executive orders for matters that might be directly addresses by legislation.
- s73v3r_ 9y agoThat's why there should never, ever be any conditions on a severance package.
- rhombocombus 9y agoMy spouse gave up an entire severance package because of the ludicrous terms outlined in the agreement. She could have been sued for any comments she made about her employer in perpetuity if she took her severance, which was neither generous nor fair. Our lawyer advised us to walk away and didn't charge us for his time to look at it either.
- s73v3r_ 9y agoI'm happy the two of you were able to do that, but many, many people would not be able to turn down the severance, regardless of how terrible the terms are.
- naveen99 9y agoCouldn't she be sued even after declining severance ?
- rhombocombus 9y agoNo, signing the draconian contract was a condition of receiving the severance, so (as explained by our attorney) by not signing she was not bound by that contract. It didn't amount to much money wise, not even a whole paycheck, and we were fortunate enough to be able to pass it up.
- chasil 9y agoIBM's genius was to take Logan's Run, and make Carousel into the promotion policy!
- walshemj 9y agoBut is the term actually valid signing a contract with an illegal term makes that term invalid.