Lifescripts, 3rd Edition

33You're a Company Icon Being Terminated

STRATEGY

If you're a company icon being terminated, you need to use your legal leverage to get as much as you possibly can out of your former employer. There are state and federal statutes that prevent employers from discriminating based on age or seniority. And while, if they're savvy, they've probably done the minimum they need to protect themselves, that doesn't mean you're powerless. Just the threat of legal action with even a minimal chance of success is enough to make most employers blink. Employers know there are plaintiff's attorneys out there willing to take on wrongful termination suits for contingency fees, so employees won't need to pay out pocket. They, on the other hand, will be liable for legal fees and will also suffer public scorn. Besides asking for a larger severance package, look to change the terms of any termination agreement. Most such agreements have restrictive covenants which look to bar you from doing certain activities in exchange for the severance. Work to weaken these. Many of these agreements also make severance payouts mitigatable, which means that they cease if you obtain another job before they otherwise would have run out. Insist that your severance, as a former company icon, not be mitigatable. Justify the request by noting that their action will create a mountain of debt for you. Finally, if you don't get satisfaction in this conversation, don't give up. There's no reason that a company icon like yourself ...