laid-off after moving cross-country

[sjmurray]

Hello All,

I July 2005 a company made me a job offer which I accepted. I was living in Oregon at the time and the job was located in Florida. The company paid for moving expenses totaling $24k to move my family to Florida. After 6 months or renting, everything look good with the job so we bought a home for $700k.

Yesterday I was notified that the company was closing the office and laying me off effective immediately. They offered 10 weeks of severance pay. We will probably return to Oregon unless a really lucrative opportunity becomes available in the next couple of weeks.

My question is do I have any leverage or legal opportunity to force the company to pay\reimburse me for expenses to sell my home and move my family back to Oregon? The whole reason to move was for the job, but not for just 22 months which is what it ended up being.

I expected the move cost to be around $25k (household and autos). Also, the home we purchased is probably worth 10-15% less today than when we purchased it at the height of the real estate boom so that probably translates to a loss of another $80k by the time realtor fees are factored in.

Should I hire an attorney to pursue this, or do I have nothing to stand on and should just be happy to get any severance pay?

Thanks!

 

[cbg]

Unless you have a binding contract that guarantees you will be reimbursed if the job lasts less than so many months, you don't have any legal recourse. Ten weeks of severance is incredibly generous for someone who's worked there less than two years.

 

[Duranie]

I agree. Unless you signed a long term contract guaranteeing long term employment, there is probably nothing you can do. Real Estate has dropped just about everywhere. If I were you, stay in Florida and make the best of it there unless if you want to move back to OR at your expense and rent the house out until it sells.

 

[sjmurray]

Thanks Duranie and cbg for your replies. I was thinking exactly what you said, but wanted to reality check it.