Thread: Please help! Being screwed! My company is getting bought out by Cisco!

At Christmas 2002, our extremely small start-up company celebrated a buy-out from Cisco for $154 Million, the most any start-up has sold for for the last two years. Our Sales for the year 2002 was only $2, that is right, TWO million, but our potential was limitless for a new type of computer security system that prevents all kinds of hackers and viruses. Everything was looking rosy because our company had a policy that all stock options would be fully vested if the company was sold. This was promised by a corperate email, and in the company bylaws it states that if it was sold that 1/3 acceleration would occur to all stock options (not as good, but something to protect the employees).

The take-over was supposed to take one month but has ended up taking three. Every two weeks or so they drop another bomb—first we were told that our fully vested stock options that we were promised when the company was sold were up for grabs again, and that Cisco was taking them away.

Then later we were told that we had to sign a paper giving Cisco all the 1/3 accelerated stock options that were set in stone in the company’s paperwork (since the full vesting was taken away, it was our fallback). Then Cisco said that if one employee did not roll over and sign this document giving away our accelerated stock option at buy-out, they might pull the buy-out completely. (But it looks like this will not happen, they are too far along in the transfer) To “make up” for this theft of employee stock options they have given some new stock options that are much less valuable and take four (!!) additional years to be fully vested.

Now they have just (yesterday) made the salary offers to employees, and I, a key engineer in a pool of less than ten engineers, have been offered a salary that is a straight move over, no increase. And on the offer it states that anyone can be fired without cause, no reprisals are allowed.

So . . . anyone have any experiences to share? What were we celebrating a Christmas? If we had known the facts for employees, we would have been in mourning. We have lost so much, but I am afraid that if I don’t sign the paper giving them back the 1/3 acceleration, I will be fired. I am trying to get the engineers together on this, they need us but don’t value us, but everyone is very downtrodden and afraid that Cisco will fire us all, even though we are key to the transition of our products being adapted to their routers and systems.

Thanks in advance. Anything you can tell me would be appreciated.

I'm sorry about what's happening. It seems like a lot of people are going through rough times right now. I hope everything works out for you. There is a company in the next town over with the same name only it's spelled different. It's called Sysco and I believe they are some sort of a food distributor.

Thanks for everyone's help, going out of town and away from the boards for a while, again, thanks, everyone is so kind and helpful!

Moderator, please close this thread. Thanks.