Can a company get away with not honoring severance agreement
My employer offered to pay my Cobra for 6 months as part of a severance agreement. The employer offered no specific language or guidance on the procedure for honoring payment. I filled out Cobra paperwork to enroll and walked away assuming this was all i had to do. My insurance was terminated because the employer had not paid. Turns out I was supposed to be paying monthly premiums to Cobra and submitting invoices to my employer for reimbursement. This instruction was written nowhere. After a series of failed attempts by the company to reverse this, I am left having to pay the penalty for not having had health insurance for 7 months. I am also ineligible for enrollment for health insurance. My company refuses to help. They technically did not honor their contractual obligation. What can I do?
1 answer | asked Aug 25, 2016 08:23 AM [EST] | applies to New York
Answers (1)
The employer was required to mail you notices and having been on COBRA myself I know they provide time for you to choose it and give you deadlines for paying - in writing so long as you keep them posted of address changes.
You can take them to court for breach of contract, even if it was verbal, but how will you prove it? An agreement to pay another's debts usually has to be in writing. So if you signed up for COBRA you are responsible just like you would be had your income taxes not been withheld. If you went to work and saw no income taxes being withheld and thought the employer is responsible who would the IRS come after for non-withholding income taxes?
Gather all your documentation, emails, phone, and text records and maybe Facebook promises if that was used and seek legal counsel.
Every Plaintiff bears the burden of proof. You have to prove there was an agreement which you reasonably relied upon and the employer breached it causing you financial loss. Good luck.
posted by V Jonas Urba | Aug 31, 2016 12:38 PM [EST]
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