Cloudflare Laid Off 224 Employees in San Francisco. Here's What You Need to Know.

Cloudflare's May 2026 WARN Act filing confirmed what many of you already knew: 224 employees at the San Francisco office were let go. If you're one of them, you probably have a severance agreement sitting in front of you right now. Maybe you've already skimmed it. Maybe you're thinking about signing it this weekend so you can stop thinking about it and move on.

Here's something most people don't realize: severance agreements are negotiable. The offer you received is a starting point, not a final number. Employees negotiate better severance packages with the help of an attorney every day, and the results are often meaningfully better than the initial offer.

We review and negotiate severance agreements on contingency. That means no upfront cost to you. Our fee comes only from the additional amount we negotiate above what you were already offered. If we don't improve your package, you don't pay. There's no downside to having an attorney look at what you've been given.

The WARN Act Already Works in Your Favor

With 224 employees terminated, this layoff clearly triggers both the federal WARN Act and California's Cal-WARN Act. That matters, because WARN requires 60 days' advance written notice before a mass layoff.

If Cloudflare gave you that notice, great. If they didn't, they owe you up to 60 days of pay and benefits on top of whatever severance they're offering. This isn't a "maybe." It's a statutory obligation. Cal-WARN applies to any employer with 75 or more employees in California and covers layoffs of 50 or more workers at a single site within a 30-day period. Cloudflare easily clears both thresholds.

Check your severance agreement. Companies sometimes fold WARN pay into the severance package and call it "total separation benefits." If that happened, you need to know it, because WARN pay isn't a gift. It's money the company already owed you by law. Your actual severance should be on top of it.

Your Cloudflare RSUs

Cloudflare is publicly traded (NET on the NYSE). If your compensation included RSUs, here's what happens when you're terminated: unvested RSUs are forfeited. Gone. If you were two years into a four-year vesting schedule, you just lost half your equity grant.

This is worth reviewing carefully. Partial accelerated vesting, where the company credits you an extra 3, 6, or 12 months of vesting, is worth raising, though companies are often resistant, in a mass layoff. That said, it's worth reviewing whether the equity treatment in your agreement reflects your full vesting picture.

Vested RSUs that haven't settled yet should still settle according to your plan documents. Read the severance agreement to make sure it doesn't modify the settlement schedule. And check whether the agreement addresses your most recent vesting cliff. If shares were about to vest in the next few weeks, losing them because the termination date was set a day or two early is worth pushing back on.

Non-Competes Are Void in California

If your severance agreement includes a non-compete clause, here's the short version: it's void. California Business and Professions Code Section 16600 prohibits non-compete agreements. AB 1076, which took effect January 1, 2024, made it explicitly illegal for employers to include them. SB 699 extended this so that non-competes from other states can't be enforced against employees working in California.

But "unenforceable" isn't the same as "harmless." A non-compete clause in a signed agreement can still cause problems. Your next employer's legal department might flag it. A hiring manager might get nervous. Demand that Cloudflare remove any non-compete language entirely before you sign. Don't settle for "well, we both know it doesn't apply in California."

OWBPA Protections If You're Over 40

The Older Workers Benefit Protection Act applies to every employee over 40 who receives a severance agreement. In a group layoff like this one, the protections are even stronger.

Cloudflare is required to give you at least 45 days to review the agreement (not 21 days, which applies only to individual terminations). They must provide you with a list showing the job titles and ages of everyone who was selected for the layoff, and the job titles and ages of those who were not. You get 7 days after signing to revoke the agreement entirely.

If Cloudflare gave you fewer than 45 days, or didn't provide the decisional unit information, that's a problem with the release. A defective OWBPA release may not hold up, which means the claims you think you signed away might still be on the table.

What You're Signing Away

The severance agreement includes a general release of claims. That means you're giving up your right to sue Cloudflare for anything that happened during your employment. Wrongful termination, discrimination, retaliation, unpaid wages. All of it.

That's fine if you don't have any claims. But how do you know? Were the layoff selections truly neutral? Were older employees or employees in protected categories disproportionately affected? Were you on medical leave, or had you recently complained about workplace issues? If there's even a question, you need to understand what you're releasing before you release it.

California Final Pay Rules

Under California Labor Code Sections 201 through 203, when you're terminated involuntarily, your employer must pay all wages owed on your last day. That includes accrued vacation time, which California treats as earned wages. If Cloudflare is late, you're entitled to waiting time penalties of up to 30 days of additional pay.

This is separate from severance. Severance is a negotiated benefit. Final pay is a legal obligation. Make sure you received everything you're owed, including any expense reimbursements, commissions, or bonuses that had already been earned.

What You Should Do Right Now

You have time. If you're over 40, you have at least 45 days. Use them.

Don't sign the agreement without understanding what you're giving up and what you could get instead. This isn't about being adversarial with Cloudflare. It's about making sure the deal reflects the value of what you're being asked to trade.

If you were part of the Cloudflare layoff in San Francisco, our employment attorneys can review your severance agreement and tell you whether the package is fair, whether WARN obligations were met, and whether your equity treatment is negotiable. Cases arising in San Francisco are handled at San Francisco Superior Court. Free consultation. You've got nothing to lose by asking.