Your Employer Can't Give You a Worse Severance Package Than Your Coworkers

You just found out that a colleague at the same level, with the same tenure, got a better severance package than you. More weeks of pay. Continued benefits. A positive reference letter. You got a fraction of that. If this sounds familiar, you're not imagining things, and you're not overreacting. In California, inconsistent severance offers can be evidence of discrimination.

Severance agreements are negotiable. What your employer offered you is a starting point, not a final answer. Employees who have an attorney negotiate their severance routinely get better outcomes: more money, longer benefits, better terms around non-disparagement and references. When there's evidence of inconsistent treatment, the leverage is even stronger.

We negotiate severance on contingency. No upfront cost. Our fee comes only from the additional amount we negotiate above what your employer already put on the table. If we don't improve the offer, you pay nothing.

Severance Doesn't Have to Be Equal, But It Can't Be Discriminatory

California employers are not legally required to offer severance at all. It's not mandated by statute. But when an employer does offer severance, they can't distribute it based on race, age, sex, disability, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, or any other characteristic protected under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA).

That means if your employer gave a better package to someone at the same level and with similar tenure, and the only meaningful difference between you and that person is a protected characteristic, you may have a disparate treatment claim. This is true even though severance packages are technically "voluntary" on the employer's part.

Under FEHA, disparate treatment requires evidence that the employer intentionally treated you differently because of a protected characteristic. Most California discrimination cases are proven through circumstantial evidence: comparator treatment, inconsistent policy application, pretextual explanations, and internal communications that reveal discriminatory motive.

How This Plays Out in Practice

Here's what this looks like in real situations Los Angeles employment attorneys see regularly.

Age-based disparities. A company lays off ten people. The employees under 40 each receive four weeks per year of service. The employees over 40 receive two weeks per year. There's no written policy justifying the difference. Under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) and FEHA, that disparity is actionable. And if the employer asks those over-40 employees to waive their age discrimination claims in the severance agreement, the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA) requires specific disclosures, including data about who else was laid off and what they were offered.

Gender disparities. Two directors get laid off in the same restructuring. The male director receives 12 weeks of pay, COBRA continuation for six months, and outplacement services. The female director receives six weeks of pay and nothing else. Same title, same department, same tenure. Under both Title VII and FEHA, the female director has grounds to challenge that discrepancy.

Retaliation-linked disparities. An employee filed an internal complaint about harassment six months ago. When layoffs happen, they get a bare-minimum severance offer while others in the same round get significantly more. That pattern suggests retaliation, which is independently illegal under FEHA, and it makes the severance disparity evidence of unlawful motive.

What to Do If Your Offer Looks Unfair

If you suspect your severance package is worse than what comparable coworkers received, here's what you should do before signing anything.

Document everything you know. Write down names, titles, tenure, and any details you've learned about other employees' packages. You don't need to have their exact offer letters. Even secondhand knowledge from trusted colleagues creates a factual record your attorney can use.

Don't sign yet. California law requires employers to give you at least five business days to consider a severance agreement. If you're over 40, the OWBPA gives you 21 days for individual separations and 45 days for group layoffs. You also get a 7-day revocation period after signing. Use every day you have.

Look at the release carefully. Your severance agreement almost certainly contains a general release of all claims, including discrimination claims. If you sign it as-is, you're giving up your right to challenge the disparity. An employment attorney who handles severance agreements can tell you whether the claims you'd be releasing are worth more than the package being offered.

Ask for the OWBPA disclosures. In group layoffs, if you're 40 or older, the employer is required to provide a list of job titles and ages of employees who were and were not selected for termination. If they didn't provide this, the waiver of your age discrimination claim may be invalid, which gives you significant leverage in negotiation.

What This Means for Your Negotiation

Disparate severance treatment doesn't just give you a legal claim. It gives you negotiating leverage. When your attorney raises the inconsistency, the employer's legal team understands what's at stake. FEHA provides uncapped compensatory damages, including emotional distress. Punitive damages are available where the employer acted with malice, oppression, or fraud. And prevailing plaintiffs are entitled to attorney's fees.

For Los Angeles employers, this means a severance negotiation that started at $15,000 can quickly become a six-figure discussion when there's evidence of discriminatory treatment. The employer's lawyers know this. They'd rather fix the severance number than litigate.

You don't have to prove discrimination to a jury to benefit from the leverage. You just need enough evidence that the employer takes the risk seriously. A well-documented disparity in severance offers among employees with similar roles and tenure is exactly that kind of evidence.

Get Your Severance Agreement Reviewed

If your severance package looks worse than what your coworkers received, don't sign it without understanding why. Our employment attorneys in Los Angeles review severance agreements every day and know how to identify discriminatory patterns. The consultation is free, and if we can't negotiate a better agreement, you don't pay us.

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"I worked with Curt Brown on a separation with my former employer. Curt was able to change the terms and the new outcome greatly benefited my family. Very pleased with the ethics and outcome."

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