If my employer laid off over 75 employees without notice and without severance due to a Department of Education investigation, is this legal?
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If my employer laid off over 75 employees without notice and without severance due to a Department of Education investigation, is this legal?
I live in an at-will state. They were given notice 5 days ago from the department via UPS overnight mail of some illegal practices that were investigated. Executives sent the entire campus home and laid everyone off the very next day.
Asked on February 5, 2016 under Employment Labor Law, Illinois
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
Do you have an empoyment contract or union agreement that prohited this lay off? Was any form of actionable discrimination at play in this situation? If not, then as an "at will" employee, your treatment was legal. The fact is that most employers can set the terms and conditions of employment much as they see fit. This inlcudes who gets laid off and when, and whether or not severance is paid.
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