Re: Severance Pay

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On 12/15/08, Advocate wrote: ﷯﷯
> On 12/15/08, Terry wrote: ﷯﷯
>> On 12/09/08, Tom wrote: ﷯﷯
>>> Upon my termination my boss offered to pay me severance ﷯﷯
>>> pay for 4 months.  He made 1 payment and then 2 vacation ﷯﷯
>>> payments and then the payments stopped.  Am I entitled to ﷯﷯
>>> sue for the remainder of the severance.  Although the ﷯﷯
>>> offer was verbal to me, HR acknowledged the offer in a ﷯﷯
>>> couple of emails.﷯﷯
>>> Thanks﷯﷯
>> ﷯﷯
>> You'll need to consult with an attorney but since severance ﷯﷯
>> pay is entirely voluntary, chances are your employer can ﷯﷯
>> stop the payments whenever they please.  If you haven't ﷯﷯
>> already, you should file for unemployment benefits.  You can ﷯﷯
>> also try to follow up with the boss and inquire about the ﷯﷯
>> balance of the severance pay he committed to.﷯﷯
>> ﷯﷯
>> If you signed a severance agreement in which you waived your ﷯﷯
>> legal rights to bring a claim against the employer [for any ﷯﷯
>> sort of discrimination, civil claim, etc.], then obviously ﷯﷯
>> your portion of the agreement is null and void.﷯﷯
> ﷯﷯
>  ~Be very careful of the advice you take from this forum~  ﷯﷯
> ﷯﷯
> As with any situation, one would need to see the relevant ﷯﷯
> documentation and engage you in a full consultation in order ﷯﷯
> to provide you with proper direction.  However, while it is ﷯﷯
> true that severance pay is generally voluntary, some courts ﷯﷯
> have ruled that an employer may not take back a benefit that ﷯﷯
> an employee has detrimentally relied upon. ﷯﷯
> ﷯﷯
> The amount in question is probably nominal and would be best ﷯﷯
> suited for small claims.  Best of luck to you.﷯﷯
> 

Thanks for the responses. No I didn't sign anything as the
promise/offer was verbal. I make over $100k so I don't think
that's covered in small claims court.﷯﷯