Overpaid Severance.

[andiet]

I was recently laid off from a Massachusetts-based company due to their closing of the Rhode Island store that I worked in. As part of the lay-off the CEO verbally agreed to pay severance to the employees who worked from the closing announcement to the actual closing of the store. The amount of severance was somewhat shaky, with different amounts being paid to different types of employees depending on their position in the company and their status of full-time versus part-time. I hadn't received a check for compensation close to 3 weeks after the store closing and so I called the payroll department and they realized their error in not sending me a check. By the end of the week I had received a severance check from them, but for a much higher amount than I had expected. Instead of being paid the $300 that I thought I was supposed to receive, I received a direct deposit pay stub for approximately $1800. After speaking with the head of payroll of said company it was revealed to me that they only had a grace period of 5 days to withdraw the overpaid funds from my account. It has now been somewhere between two and three weeks and payroll is expecting me to send them a personal check for the difference that was overpaid. The difference is only $1000.05 and while I still have the money, I am not all that willing to pay back a company for a stupid mistake they made after they've screwed me over with lay-offs on two separate occasions. Not to mention confusion that kept me from finding a new job sooner. Between their extensions of the store closing and the misinformation they gave me about being able to collect unemployment, I was unable to start a new job and left unemployed with no income for around 2-3 weeks. Basically my question is: If I do not send them a check for the difference would they be able to legally or otherwise come after me for the overpaid funds? Any and all information would be helpful. Thank you.

 

[seniorjudge]

Keeping money that is not yours is stealing.

 

[cbg]

Short answer - yes.

Long answer - I'm afraid I do not understand why you think you have any kind of legal basis to keep money you were not entitled to. If you had overpaid a store or utility, would you think it was okay if they kept the money because, after all, you made a mistake?