Employer attempting to re-do already signed severance agreement

[y0ung-BucK]

I took a severance package from my employer who is a small (under 50 employees) private company. We agreed on a 3-week severance but the contract had a 9-week severance with the appropriate pay and dollar amount to match a 9-week severance. Everyone signed the contract which contained the 9-week severance including HR and our COO. My employer realized this mistake and they are now trying to get me to sign a new severance agreement that only has a 3-week severance.

Can I fight this and get a 9-week severance when I was supposed to get only a 3-week one since the document we signed was a legal one signed by my employer and myself? I work in Arkansas and the company is headquartered in Oregon.

 

[quincy]

You agreed on a 3 week severance package? Did you read through the written agreement before signing it?

 

[y0ung-BucK]

You agreed on a 3 week severance package? Did you read through the written agreement before signing it?

I verbally agreed to a 3-week severance but the contract I signed included a 9-week severance which is a way better deal. My employer is now saying they made a mistake and want me to resign an agreement for a 3-week severance even though we both already signed a contract for a 9-week severance. Can they now withhold the 9-week severance and force me to take only a 3-week severance even though we already signed all the paperwork?

 

[quincy]

I verbally agreed to a 3-week severance but the contract I signed included a 9-week severance which is a way better deal. My employer is now saying they made a mistake and want me to resign an agreement for a 3-week severance even though we both already signed a contract for a 9-week severance. Can they now withhold the 9-week severance and force me to take only a 3-week severance even though we already signed all the paperwork?

If it a scrivener’s error, yes, the employer can ask that you sign a new written agreement that reflects the actual agreement you had.

I am surprised that no one thought to read the agreement in its entirety prior to signing. The error should have been easy to catch and correct.

 

[y0ung-BucK]

If it a scrivener’s error, yes, the employer can ask that you sign a new written agreement that reflects the actual agreement you had.

I am surprised that no one thought to read the agreement in its entirety prior to signing. The error should have been easy to catch and correct.

Thanks for the response! So I can't legally fight for the higher severance since it was a signed contract?

 

[quincy]

Thanks for the response! So I can't legally fight for the higher severance since it was a signed contract?

Well ... you could try to fight for the higher severance but - both you and your employer agreed to the 3 week severance and you both understood that the written agreement was to reflect the terms you agreed to.

The “9 weeks” is substantially different from the agreed-to “3 weeks.” The 9 weeks is an obvious error.

 

[cbg]

Thanks for the response! So I can't legally fight for the higher severance since it was a signed contract?

Well...it's legal for you to fight for it since there is no law that says you can't. But if what you mean is, will the law be on my side in this case, that's a bit too situation specific to call.

 

[zddoodah]

I took a severance package from my employer who is a small (under 50 employees) private company. We agreed on a 3-week severance but the contract had a 9-week severance with the appropriate pay and dollar amount to match a 9-week severance. Everyone signed the contract which contained the 9-week severance including HR and our COO.

"Contract" is a word that has a particular meaning in the law. What consideration did you give for the severance pay (i.e., what did you do or refrain from doing or agree to do or agree to refrain from doing in exchange for the severance pay)?

Can I fight this and get a 9-week severance when I was supposed to get only a 3-week one since the document we signed was a legal one signed by my employer and myself?

First of all, what makes you say that "the document [you] signed was a legal one"? What does it even mean for a document to be "a legal one"?

Second, I don't know what you mean by "fight this." You certainly can refuse to sign a new document. Likewise, your former employer can refuse to pay you any more than the agreed three weeks. Then what are you going to do? You can, if you want, sue for the additional six weeks, but no one who hasn't read the document that was signed can opine intelligently about your chances of success.

Third, notwithstanding what I wrote above, the legal concept called reformation seems particularly relevant to your situation, so you might want to read a bit about it.

I verbally agreed to a 3-week severance but the contract I signed included a 9-week severance

Out of curiosity, when you signed the document and noticed that it said something different than you had verbally agreed, why didn't you mention that to the person who gave it to you?

 

[quincy]

It appears that no one thought to read through the written severance agreement prior to signing.

When there is a mutual mistake of the sort described here, a court will look at the intent of the parties. The written agreement should be corrected to conform to the actual agreement or intention of the parties.

y0ung-BucK is not disputing that the agreed-upon severance was 3 weeks. I am not seeing that there is much of an argument to be had.