I was hired by my present firm and negotiated an employment agreement. One of the paragraphs in this employment agreement states that if I am terminated before completing 3 years with the company, they will give me 6 months severance plus a lump sum of money.
I have been a good employee and am well respected. Unfortunately the company has run into economic troubles and most of the employees were terminated in the past year. I was terminated last week, i.e. just after completing my 3 years - which is understandable given that they could not afford to pay me the rich severance that I had negotiated during the hiring process.
The firm has a defined severance plan that provides a benefit based on years of service and grade. As long as one is not terminated for cause, they have been providing the severance as provided in the plan.
In my case, they refuse to pay me any severance. Their defense is that I had my own severance defined in the employment agreement, and since the date specified has passed, they owe me nothing. Please note, the employment agreement does not speak to any benefit (or lack of) after the date. The logical assumption would be that once the severance specified in the agreement expired, I would be just like any other employee and be eligible for benefits specified in the regular employee severance plan. Clearly they had no intention of denying me a severance benefit when they hired me - if things had been going well, I could be still working here for the next 5 years; in this case, I would have been the only employee without a severance?? The richer plan was negotiated by me, and they negotiated a 3 year term. They could have added a sentence saying that after the 3 year employment period, I would get no severance. Of course, in this case, I would have refused to join them.
Am I entitled to severance? What are my legal options and how long will the process take? I would appreciate any advice and please ask if I need to add more information.
I have been a good employee and am well respected. Unfortunately the company has run into economic troubles and most of the employees were terminated in the past year. I was terminated last week, i.e. just after completing my 3 years - which is understandable given that they could not afford to pay me the rich severance that I had negotiated during the hiring process.
The firm has a defined severance plan that provides a benefit based on years of service and grade. As long as one is not terminated for cause, they have been providing the severance as provided in the plan.
In my case, they refuse to pay me any severance. Their defense is that I had my own severance defined in the employment agreement, and since the date specified has passed, they owe me nothing. Please note, the employment agreement does not speak to any benefit (or lack of) after the date. The logical assumption would be that once the severance specified in the agreement expired, I would be just like any other employee and be eligible for benefits specified in the regular employee severance plan. Clearly they had no intention of denying me a severance benefit when they hired me - if things had been going well, I could be still working here for the next 5 years; in this case, I would have been the only employee without a severance?? The richer plan was negotiated by me, and they negotiated a 3 year term. They could have added a sentence saying that after the 3 year employment period, I would get no severance. Of course, in this case, I would have refused to join them.
Am I entitled to severance? What are my legal options and how long will the process take? I would appreciate any advice and please ask if I need to add more information.
