Legal Question in Employment Law in New York
should I sign a separation agreement & release?
I was offered a severance package to leave my job of 14 yrears. The separation agreement & release I was given contains a release paragraph and a no furthe consideration paragraph, both are clear to me that i'd be giving up my right to sue.
Although I have not decided to sue for wrongful discharge & /or discrimination; I feel the termination is unjustified. The reason given was the results of an audit f/u in wich they were told that documentation was being signed incorrectrly- a change that was made with the executive directors knowledge. I returned from FMLA about 3 months ago& am now have aprotected disability, about a month ago I complained about being harrassed by my new supervisor & was told it was not harrament because I was not being reated differently than other employees.
Do I have to sign the separation agreement & give up my right to sue in order to get the severance?
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: should I sign a separation agreement & release?
Thank you for your inquiry.
Whether you should sign depends upon the terms of the agreement and whether you will be able to obtain comparable employment. How many weeks per year of service are you receiving? What about pension and/or 401k credit? What happens to your benefits, especially health insurance? Why are you being terminated if the manager approved the changes? I would strongly recommend that the terms of your situation be reviewed with counsel asap. I would be pleased to speak with you further. Thank you again for your question.
Joseph F. Tremiti
Re: should I sign a separation agreement & release?
In order to get the severance package you would probably need to sign but you may have gorunds for wrongful discharge. If you think that you might want to pursue litigation to protect your rights, do not sign this agreement.
Should you like to discuss this or any other legal matter, you can e-mail me for more information about low cost face-to-face, on-line, or a telephone consultation with a lawyer in our office.
Re: should I sign a separation agreement & release?
As a general response and without getting too detailed, this mattere sounds like it would be worth discussing. Our office has handled several such cases. Your inital inquiry depends upon the text of your employer's documents [employee's manual, guidelines, etc.] that refer to severance.
Further, it appears from your brief description above that your opinion regarding the termination is correct in that it seems as though it was retalitory.
Please do not hesitate to contact me at 914-238-5800 for a consult, since your rights are limited by one or more Statutes of Limitations.
- Peter W. Yoars, Jr.
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