My former employer is not owning up to the severance agreement.
employment attorney Illinois Aug 11, 2026
Location: Illinois Thank you in advance to anyone who contributes to this, as I am out of my depth when it comes to contract and/or employment law. The background: In April of this year, I was, as well as several others in the company, laid off. This came after 4.5 years of employment with the company. Last year we got a new higher up that took a year to get an understanding of the company, implemented some quick fix measures to get the company back on track, and as far as I was aware, was continuing with that method. I was leading a few projects at the time and felt in the loop, but ultimately was not. Out of nowhere he comes in to my office and sits down, with my direct manager alongside. My direct manager says nothing during this, just in case anyone asks, but may not be important. New Higher Up says that the company and I will be going separate ways and that he has a severance agreement for me to review. (This is the really relevant information) As he is talking, he never mentioned any specific amounts. He said that I was to be paid out one month for every year I worked plus PTO, which would be broken down into equal payments adhering to my regular pay schedule. This felt very standard and I did not think much of it, outside of holy crap I am now unemployed, what am I going to do. Anyway, he kept saying that it was a very generous severance package that he fought hard for, and he said that several times over before handing me the paper agreement. He said I could stay for the day or head directly out and they’ll package up my office. Then he left and headed back to HQ office. Now is the first time I looked at the paper agreement. I immediately noticed the numbers stated seemed larger than I expected. It said to the effect of “…company agrees to pay employee 16 weeks of regular pay plus PTO ($72,000.00).” The first thing I noticed was that 4.5 years should have been 18 weeks, but I guess they are rounding down. Second thing I noticed was that my pay rate for the time did not add up. I was paid $140,000 annually, with 2 weeks of PTO remaining. By my math, it should have been a payout of roughly $48,000.00 (16 weeks of pay, plus 2 weeks of PTO). But again, I naively assumed they were doing some kind of business math that I was not familiar with, or maybe paying out holiday. I was distraught and didn’t have the bandwidth to start arguing for potentially less payout. The contract also had some caveats about expected behavior in return, mainly that I would not disparage the company and the company would do the same for me. Which felt standard as well. So I boxed up my belongings, said goodbye to my colleagues, signed the agreement and handed it to my direct manager, thanking him for the previous years, because I really liked him. He was a really good boss, tbh. And that was it. I was naive and did not make a copy of the agreement before I handed it over, or take a picture. Skip a 4 months of no contact between myself and the company, and I get a call regarding one of the projects and an account change. I walk them through it, because I wasn’t feeling slighted at the time. I was receiving my standard pay rate and just figured it would last longer than expected until it was fully paid out. After the call I receive an email from New Higher Up that there was an “math error” on my contract and they will be paying me closer to the $48,000 that I calculated out before. This caught me off guard and I asked for a copy of the agreement to re-read what they were referring to. He said that he would get a new one over to me shortly. I asked for both an updated copy and the original signed copy. Then I got radio silence. This was two weeks ago and I have not heard anything since. I have another email drafted, but wanted to come here first for opinions or suggestions. I also called a local lawyer to potentially address this, but it’s a $500 consultation fee, and I have no other income at the moment. I don’t want to waste the $500 just to be told I have no case, or that it will cost more to pursue than I would receive. My assumption is that they would argue scriveners error, and would have grounds to fight the contract on that basis. But, given that the payout number was very clearly stated, and it was confirmed to be mathematical, I feel that this argument may not be valid. If it said instead $480,000.00 I would completely understand as a scriveners error. Anyway, let me know what I should do or any suggestions you have. Thanks again!
