What to do if my husband was fired with no warning, severance or unemployment insurance?
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What to do if my husband was fired with no warning, severance or unemployment insurance?
My husband was the president of company owned by another business owner. With no warning, they fired my husband and sold off products to his contacts and closed the company. No severance, didn’t pay into unemployment insurance. Won’t return calls and did not send us COBRA info. We are depleting our savings over this.. We are a one income family with kids.
Asked on May 31, 2012 under Employment Labor Law, Wisconsin
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 11 years ago | Contributor
Your husband would have no claim for severance unless and only to the extent there was an employment, separation, or severance agreement (so, some contract) which provided for it; the law does not require severance, so it's up to employers to decide whether to grant it.
There would also be no claim for being terminated without warning, unless there was an employment contract requiring notice or guarantying his position for some period of time or until some date. Without a contract, he would be an employee at will and could be terminated at any time, for any reason, without notice.
The company owner may of course sell off the company's products to anyone he wants to.
COBRA and unemployment are, however, required by law. If these were not paid, are not being provided, etc., you could contact your state department of labor and/or retain an attorney to look into bringing a lawsuit for the value of the benefits you are not receiving.
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