crombieman
Junior Member
Washington,D.C.
I was recently laid off. My employer apparently made an error in the "Release Form" which included my health benefits/severance pay; as it stands, they have signed an agreement to pay my health insurance premiums for 9 months, but apparently they only meant to pay 65%. Now they want me to sign an amended agreement. I told them that I would not. Today I received a certified letter containing a signed copy of their desired amendment, which I plan not to sign. Can I force them to uphold what they originally signed? Avoiding a lawsuit would be preferable, but I have a feeling they will try to get out of it, assuming I won't pursue legal action. The HR woman has already tried to guilt me into giving in, but everyone I've asked (2 engineers and an accountant - ie, no lawyers, but people in the business world) agrees with me - I have a little bargaining chip and my ex-employer wants me to just give it away for nothing. It certainly doesn't seem like a good idea. I'm a recent graduate and new to the working world, but I'm not totally naive.
The value of the insurance would be probably about $1500 - not a ton, but obviously when one is on unemployment, every bit counts. I know their agreement was drafted by an attorney and I'm sure was designed to be as binding/air tight as possible. Any advice for how to proceed would be greatly appreciated. It sounds like I may need representation. Am I totally off base here?
I was recently laid off. My employer apparently made an error in the "Release Form" which included my health benefits/severance pay; as it stands, they have signed an agreement to pay my health insurance premiums for 9 months, but apparently they only meant to pay 65%. Now they want me to sign an amended agreement. I told them that I would not. Today I received a certified letter containing a signed copy of their desired amendment, which I plan not to sign. Can I force them to uphold what they originally signed? Avoiding a lawsuit would be preferable, but I have a feeling they will try to get out of it, assuming I won't pursue legal action. The HR woman has already tried to guilt me into giving in, but everyone I've asked (2 engineers and an accountant - ie, no lawyers, but people in the business world) agrees with me - I have a little bargaining chip and my ex-employer wants me to just give it away for nothing. It certainly doesn't seem like a good idea. I'm a recent graduate and new to the working world, but I'm not totally naive.
The value of the insurance would be probably about $1500 - not a ton, but obviously when one is on unemployment, every bit counts. I know their agreement was drafted by an attorney and I'm sure was designed to be as binding/air tight as possible. Any advice for how to proceed would be greatly appreciated. It sounds like I may need representation. Am I totally off base here?
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