Paying severance out of duress

[paulvdoyle]

The General Manager of my business resigned unexpectedly just before I was going to be out of the office for a week. She said she was going to leave that very minute unless I agreed to pay her 6 months full pay. If I did agree to pay the 6 months, she would stay that following week and help with employee transition and the delegation of some of her duties. Because of the pressure of the situation, I agreed. She made me agree and put it in writing. I quickly whipped up a memo to her stating I agreed to do so.

I'm now wondering if that was even legal on her part. She is no longer working for me. But I have to pay her until June 2011. I'm not able to hire a replacement because I can't afford another person.

Is this agreement legally binding? Can I break it?

 

[army judge]

You might want to run the agreement by an attorney. You should have consulted with an attorney before agreeing to such madness.

I suspect you'll be told that it is binding. Do you have to pay? No. But, if you don't, expect her to sue you for the balance.

By the way, you can't claim duress for signing this ridiculous agreement. Whatever you claim to be your reason, it isn't duress that caused you to agree to give her money.


Will she win? Who knows? How much will it cost you to find the agreement for six months?




For example, if it will cost you $6,000, you could make her an offer. You could say, you'd give her $3,000 today to settle and close the six month payment plan.

But, before you do anything else, speak with your attorney. That is what you should have done before you agreed to her idiotic scheme. now, you may be stuck with it.