Many employers require terminated employees to sign a general release of claims in exchange for receiving severance benefits from the company. Some federal courts, however, recently struck down commonly used language. Specifically, courts rejected language: (1) requiring employees to waive potential or pending EEOC charges in exchange for severance benefits; (2) releasing an employee’s claims under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) because the Department of Labor’s regulations dictate that employees cannot waive their rights under the FMLA; and (3) subjecting age claims to a covenant not to sue. If your company utilizes similar language, then it should revise its general releases accordingly.

Securing general releases, and even covenants not to sue, is still possible in most situations. Given the recent number of decisions scrutinizing the releases in question, however, employers should re-examine their standard general releases in order to remove any problematic language.  Otherwise, a court may strike down your company's general releases, subjecting it to lawsuits and charges.

If you would like assistance in reviewing your general releases, please contact the Elarbee Thompson attorney with whom you normally work.