Legal Question in Employment Law in Florida
Procedures of Termination
Received a phone call yesterday to inform me that my position was being terminating/downsized. A date was set, and a severance package was offered. The question I have is can they inform a co-worker under my direct supervision of my termination and severance package a day before they inform me. The co-worker was contacted the day before with his terms and then was informed of mine and another co-worker terms as well. He was then instructed not to say a word. Is there anything illegal with this? How can they legally disclosed anything about another co-worker's/manager's termination prior to that person being notified? There could also be a gender issue here as well.
Thanks
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Procedures of Termination
Though what your employer has done is unacceptable, there is no law that provides you an ability to recover damages against the emmployer. Florida is a strong employer state ("at will").
We wish you luck with your severance package. Remember though that severance is not a requirement of work - it is really something the employer provides for its goodwill to it former employees.
George Savage
Re: Procedures of Termination
Unprofessional but not illegal.
Re: Procedures of Termination
There is nothing illegal about what you've described, although it may not be the best business practice to leak out who has been terminated and under what terms before it actually happens.
Significantly, the law does not regulate these types of business decisions, and for good reason. Ultimately, although you may have been upset by how things transpired concerning your termination, I suspect that the real underlying problem is that you obviously didn't want to lose your job, and now that you did, you are--understandably--not happy about how things went down.
Best of luck in your future endeavors and sorry that there is no true legal assistance that we could provide in this matter.
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