- Employee terminations sometimes result in claims of defamation (libel and slander), emotional distress and malicious prosecution or lie-detector violations.
- COBRA, and the Employee Retirement Income and Security Act, or ERISA, impose various requirements on employers who separate employees, with respect to health insurance and pension-type benefits. The Worker Adjustment Retraining and Notification Act, or WARN imposes notification requirements on employers who implement plant closings or mass layoffs.
- The U.S. Department of Labor, or USDOL has a website with useful information concerning COBRA, ERISA and WARN. The link is:
- Enforcement of termination/severance-related laws and regulations commonly occurs either through a dispute-resolution/administrative agency process, or through a court action, or lawsuit (which many times may not be filed until the internal dispute-resolution/administrative charge has been properly filed and processed). Failure to comply with time limits, sometimes called a statute of limitations, may have adverse ramifications to employers defending against charges and lawsuits, or those asserting employee rights, irrespective of the merits, or lack thereof, of a claim.
- Enforcement actions may result in payment of backpay, frontpay or reinstatement, and, in certain cases, payment of compensatory or punitive/exemplary/liquidated damages, along with attorneys' fees.
- Some employers and employees elect to resolve potential or asserted claims, related to actions which occurred during employment, or due to rights which may be claimed to arise due to termination or implementation of other discipline, via a severance agreement, release, and/or covenant not to sue.
JD (Jim) Masur maintains a law practice to provide counseling and proactive guidance, and litigation services concerning all aspects of Employer-Employee termination-related issues. His practice includes class-action litigation. |
