Layoffs - Need Advice

kssm

Our company is going through a major budget crisis as I'm sure many companies are these days. Layoffs are inevitable, but should we have reason to be concerned about lawsuits if people who have recently filed Short Term Disability claims for chronic illnesses are being layed off. There are less than ten people who will be layed off, and three of these people have documented chronic illnesses.

Don D

Have no legal basis for an opinion, but, in my opinion, if your reduction in force policy/procedure is well conceived, documented and defensible in terms of how it is to be fairly applied, and you can soundly show that these are the individuals who would have been laid off whether or not so affected, I would proceed with the plan. Same with protected groups, somebody on FMLA, someone who has filed a charge with EEOC, etc. Otherwise, you'd be having to observe exceptions every time you turn around.

Theresa Gegen TX

As Don stated, you need to make sure that the chronic illness and FMLA protected absenses are NOT considered in determining who to lay off.

The decision manager should be able to articulate the precise reason each employee was selected for layoff as compared to whoever else was in that group or job classification. The reason stated should be verifiable by either the employment documents or actual experiences *supported by FACTS not just OPINIONS* (note: getting facts from people, instead of conclusions, can take some time) of the management team. (For example, if the manager says "I selected Bill because of his poor performance" and Bill has better performance evaluations than someone who was not selected; that would be a highly suspect decision. The company should look at it closely.

You may get lawsuits and claims, but if you do your preparation BEFORE the layoffs are announced, when the company still has the opportunity to change its mind about decisions, you will be able to defend against any claim.

Good Luck!