Wrongful termination or discrimination

[mrine]

What is the name of your state? Maryland

My wife was let go from her sales position today. The only reason given is that they are downsizing the company. The problem is she has received glowing reviews from her boss in the 8 years she has been with the company, and has great relationships with her customers and distributors. The other thing that doesn't make sense is there are two people on the team who have been there much less time than her. One is an African American girl who is just o ut of college and literally has no experience in the industry except the 6 months she has been employed by the company. I instructed my wife to immediatey contact corporate human resources and ask for a complete copy of her personel folder to be sent to her. they told her they did not have it, and that she should contact her boss about it. I find it hard to believe that a company that is literally a household name would rely on on a district manager to keep her personell file in his house. CAn anyone shed some light on whether there is a wrongful termination, discrimination or reverse discrimination lawsuit here? Also, they are holding her severance hostage of her signing a 2 year non compete agreement

 

[las365]

Is your wife over 40? How many employees were laid off? Were all or most of them over 40? If so, and she can prove that she was laid off because of age discrimination, that sounds like her only hope for a wrongful termination case. It is not a likely scenario, but not impossible.

The truth is that employers who do layoffs get to choose who they lay off. Being a good, or even the best, employee doesn't mean you won't get the ax.

What your wife needs to do is take the proposed severance agreement and noncompete to an experienced employment law attorney for a review and advice on whether and how to negotiate her exit to her best advantage. It sounds to me as if you should stay out of it. No offense intended, but you sound like a guy who tends to take charge. In some situations, it's better to let a professional deal with things.

 

[mitousmom]

How many people were on your wife's team? How many were let go? How many remain? What makes you or your wife think that the termination decision should be based on length of service? Are there white employees on your wife's team with less service who also were not terminated?