New York Severance Agreement Lawyers

If you are being forced out of your position, your employer may ask you to sign an employment severance agreement. The agreement may provide you with compensation, but at the cost of waiving your right to take legal action and otherwise restricting your conduct once you have left your employer. An attorney at Cary Kane LLP is experienced at reviewing and negotiating employment severance agreements, and is prepared to help you through what may be a difficult process. Below we discuss some considerations that come into play when faced with an employment severance agreement.

Are There Any Grounds For Contesting Your Termination?

If you've received an employment severance agreement, you may feel that you have been presented with a fait accompli, and that you cannot contest the employer's decision to terminate you,. This may not be the case. You may have a claim for wrongful termination, or breach of the employment contract itself. Ultimately, you may decide that you don't want to enter into an employment severance agreement, but instead take legal action to enforce your rights. Or you may wish to use potential legal claims to negotiate a better deal. In either case, an attorney at Cary Kane LLP will review your options and help you decide the course of action you wish to take.

Review and Negotiation of the Agreement

After the initial review of the situation is complete, an attorney at Cary Kane LLP can advise you on how best to respond. In addition to the amount of pay and benefits you receive, employment severance agreements will usually contain several other provisions that need to be carefully analyzed. An agreement will certainly ask you to release claims against the employer, but the scope of the release may vary significantly. Employers may also ask you to remain silent about your experience at the employer, as well as to keep terms of the agreement confidential. Sometimes, the agreement will include restrictions on your ability to compete with the employer, or your ability to solicit the employer's clients or other employees. Some employment severance agreements demand that the employee cooperate with the employer on certain matters even after the relationship has been terminated.

It is important to remember that even if the employer was within its rights to terminate your employment, it often has no legal right to bind you to the post-employment restrictions it asks for in the employment severance agreement, unless you agree to them. This may give you more leverage than you may have thought you had. An attorney at Cary Kane LLP can help you use this leverage to negotiate. We can assist you either as a behind the scenes "coach" or directly negotiate with the employer and its counsel.

Severance Agreements for Older Workers

For employees over 40, other considerations come into play when reviewing and negotiating employment severance agreements. The Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA) provides such workers with several rights when it comes to employment severance agreements, particularly as they relate to age discrimination claims. For more information on your rights under OWBPA, click here.

If you've lost your job, you face a stressful situation. However, that does not mean that you simply have to accept the offered terms of your separation from your employer. Contact a severance agreement attorney at Cary Kane LLP today to schedule an initial consultation.