The novels of Charles Dickens are famous for letting entire chapters go by with barely a mention of a named character, but that does not mean that nothing happens when none of the main characters are on the page. They are stories about entire societies, not just about individual characters. For example, in a passage in A Tale of Two Cities, a carriage carrying the King of France runs over a child. The king throws a coin into the crowd, meaning to compensate for the child’s injuries, but the crowd throws the coin back. The compensation is too meager for such a great injustice; the carriage did not even stop, and the coachman and the king did not even apologize.
It is not always easy to tell when someone is offering you money just to keep you quiet, but when you figure it out, you are angry that someone thinks they can buy your silence or complicity for such a paltry sum. You might think that firing an employee for an unfair reason and then bribing the employee to keep quiet about it is something that only happens in dystopian fiction about a world run by corporate overlords, but in fact, it happens all the time. The Bozeman severance lawyers at HKM Employment Attorneys LLP can help you weigh the costs and benefits of accepting an offer of severance pay.
Is Severance a Going Away Present in Difficult Times?
Severance is money or other compensation that the employer gives to the employee when the employer terminates the employment relationship on its own initiative. For example, when a company goes out of business because of financial constraints, its plans to wind down its operations may include severance packages for its employees in leadership roles. Likewise, when a company downsizes its workforce, it might offer severance pay to the employees it lays off. A company that needs to reduce the size of its workforce might even offer generous severance packages to employees who opt to retire early or resign.
The severance package usually includes enough money to cover the employee’s most recent salary for several months. The employer might pay the severance pay in a lump sum or in monthly installments, or the employee might even be able to choose which way to receive it. Most severance packages also include a continuation of the employee’s health insurance, usually for even longer than the duration of the severance pay. They sometimes also include other benefits, such as relocation expenses or the option to buy employer-issued phones and computers at a discounted rate.
The employee can only access the severance package by signing a separation agreement. The employer’s obligation, pursuant to the separation agreement, is to pay the compensation described in the agreement. The employee’s obligation is to waive the right to sue the employer for wrongful termination of employment.
Is Severance an Underhanded Tactic to Intimidate You Out of Suing?
Remember that scene in the Little Mermaid movie where the sea witch offers the mermaid the chance to visit dry land, like she has always dreamed of doing, and all she has to give up is her voice. Separation agreements do not always contain non-disclosure provisions about what the former employee can and cannot say about the circumstances under which the employment relationship ended, but even if they do not, giving up the right to file a wrongful termination of employment lawsuit is not a decision to take lightly.
Regarding wrongful termination of employment, employees in Montana are in a stronger position than their counterparts in most other states. Most places follow the “at will employment” rule, where, unless you have an employment contract, your employer has the right to fire you for no reason. We have the Wrongful Discharge From Employment Act, which requires the employer to provide an explanation for terminating your employment, even if you did not sign a contract when you started your job.
Employment discrimination and employer retaliation are against the law, even when your employer hides them behind euphemisms and legal boilerplate. Discrimination is when your employer fires you because of who you are, that is, based on a protected characteristic, such as your age, race, or national origin. Retaliation occurs when the employer fires you because you did something that you had a legal right to do; protected activities, the ones for which employers may not retaliate, include reporting safety violations to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and filing workers’ compensation claims about work injuries. If your employer is firing you for a discriminatory or retaliatory reason, you should not give up the right to sue by signing a separation agreement.
You Should Feel Ambivalent About Severance Pay, and You Should Talk to a Lawyer About It
Severance pay is somewhere between a consolation prize and hush money, and the decision about accepting it is usually not as simple as it sounds. You might believe that your employer had discriminatory or retaliatory motives for firing you, but you might hesitate to sue. Perhaps you cannot afford to forfeit the severance pay, because you don’t know if you would win your wrongful termination lawsuit, and you don’t have another source of income to sustain you until your wrongful termination case settles.
You should discuss all of these matters with a Bozeman employment lawyer. Your lawyer will review the agreement carefully with you, and at the end, you might decide that you have grounds for a lawsuit, and it is worth the risk of not signing the separation agreement. Even if you eventually sign, signing the agreement is your best option, because you are unsure of your chances of winning a wrongful termination lawsuit, your lawyer can help you negotiate for more money and better benefits in your severance package.
Contact HKM Employment Attorneys LLP, About Severance Pay
The Bozeman employment lawyers at HKM Employment Attorneys LLP can counsel you about separation agreements and severance pay. Contact the employment lawyers at HKM Employment Attorneys LLP in Bozeman, Montana, to set up a consultation.
