So angry... Can any lawyer comment on this job loss debacle?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not an employment lawyer, but sounds pretty standard. Severance agreements aren't illegal (although if she was fired for an illegal reason and brings a case the agreement almost certainly won't protect the company). If she had no employment contract, she is probably an "at will" employee, so she can be fired for any reason (including if she didn't get along with certain colleagues), as long as it wasn't discriminatory. If she suspects she was fired for a discriminatory reason (sex, race, disability, etc) it might be worth talking to a lawyer, though that opens her up to being sued to get the severance pay back.

In the future, it may be a good idea to talk to a lawyer before you sign a severance agreement (or at least do some research yourself) to make sure there is nothing crazy in there, and also because you may be able to negotiate for more money if you have some leverage (e.g. if they want you to agree to a non-compete clause). However, if she was an entry-level employee it was probably pretty boilerplate, and probably not worth it to talk to a lawyer now.

Agree on the part to review with a lawyer - when my company went through layoffs their agreement had language that was unreasonable. My attorney got that cleaned up and then I signed.

[Anonymous]

You don't sign the damn contract right there!
You say you'll take it home to reviews and get back to them. No matter how short.
And yes you tie the non disparage or confidentiality of it to a large severance package.

Tough to pinpoint bullying or discrimination here not being a clear minority or sexual harassment -- even tho that is clearly what it is.

Never hurts to speak with an employment Atty in her area, and bring in all notes or logs of the bullying, comments, situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the OP. Thanks for the replies. Is it normal for the supervisor to refuse to tell her why she was fired? That just seems so weird to me.

I am 99% sure that she is being truthful, and that she has not inadvertently done something stupid; she's very responsible. I guess that 1% uncertainty is something I was focusing on when she was telling me that they refused to tell her why. I would think that something like this shouldn't be a surprise?

They usually tell you BS anyhow. He actually alluded to a culture fit, am glad she kept asking and made him squirm. He knows it's BS too. He's a weak manager choosing keeping the peace for the oldies instead of helping a rising star/productive employee.