Bank of America will cut 3,500 jobs this quarter and at least 10,000 this year, in addition to the 2,500 jobs cut earlier this year, according to an InvestmentNews article entitled “BofA to slash 10,000 jobs: Reports.” The jobs cuts are reportedly in addition to BofA’s Project New BAC, which is another cost-cutting program. In the bigger picture, the 50 largest global banks have cut 60,000 jobs as of August 5, 2011, the fastest rate since 2008, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
BofA’s job cuts are the fallout of its acquisition of subprime lender Countrywide Financial Corp., its liabilities for fraud that contributed to the housing bubble and the proliferation of toxic mortgage-backed securities that caused the 2008-2009 market crash.
“This obviously is a challenging time for our company in the markets, and for our shareholders,” CEO Brian Moynihan was quoted as saying, adding: “I know it is tough to have to manage through reductions, but we owe it to our customers and our shareholders to remain competitive, efficient and manage our expenses carefully.”
What does BofA owe its terminated employees? A change employment status, voluntary or involuntary, may be produce legal issues that should be examined by an experienced attorney.
Atlanta Attorney J. Boyd Page observed: “As brokers and other bank employees are being fired or forced to leave, I would expect this to lead to disputes involving front-end bonuses, retention bonuses, possible wrongful termination claims, and other issues arising out of brokers’ employment agreements and the circumstances of the terminations.”
Page Perry routinely handles a wide variety of employment law matters. The firm’s employment law services range from drafting or advising clients about employment agreements and related documents to litigating or arbitrating employment related disputes. Over the years, the firm has developed particular experience and knowledge in dealing with employment law disputes associated with the securities and financial services industries.
Page Perry attorneys have successfully handled employment law disputes involving employee bonuses and loans, constructive termination, restrictive covenants and non-compete agreements, confidentiality agreements, stock option agreements, age, race and gender discrimination, and severance packages.
Page Perry is an Atlanta-based law firm with an active practice in representing individuals in employment disputes with firms in the financial services industry. In the past several years, the firm has won arbitration award for clients in employment disputes in the amounts of $1.7 and $3.9 million. For further information, please contact www.pageperry.com.