Jagger69
Three lullabies in an ancient tongue
OK y'all....gather 'round to hear ******* Jagger's tale of woe. I have been employed by a California-based company for a fair number of years. Like a lot of companies, we have had some tough times in the last couple of years and there have been all kinds of layoffs and cutbacks in an effort to keep the ink as close to black as possible. Recently, I have been getting some not-so-subtle hints from the ivory tower that I may be a casualty if there is another series of cuts that need to be made. Our sales budgets for 2010 are ridiculously optimistic and are therefore unattainable (unless the economy miraculously recovers within the next 2 or 3 months....yeah right 
).
Since it is likely that it will be quite evident to the bean-counters that I won't be able to reach the brass ring by the end of the second quarter, I am anticipating that I am going to be fired sometime around the middle to latter part of June. Obviously, I am sending out some feelers for another job but I am also aware of the fact that the company would much prefer that I end up submitting my resignation rather than having to fire me since they would not be obligated to offer me a severance package nor would I be eligible to draw unemployment benefits (hence, the not-so-subtle hints). I am also 56 years old and, unless they can show probable cause for dismissal, I have been told that I may have some legal options to exercise against them under California law for age discrimination. Does anyone know if this is true?
Also, certain other employees (especially account executives like me) who have thus far been terminated have been asked to sign non-compete agreements in exchange for a fairly liberal severance package. The other option is to receive no severance package offer and live on unemployment benefits alone if you refuse to sign the non-compete (don't you just love the way corporate America works???). However, I have also been told that non-compete agreements are unenforceable (in fact, *******) in California and that such agreements are therefore null and void. There is conflicting information on the internet as to whether this is true or not. Does anyone have any specific knowledge or information on this or any direct personal experience with this sort of thing in the state of California? As always, any help at all is most appreciated. Thanks in advance to any and all that are kind enough to take the time and effort to respond. :thumbsup:
). Since it is likely that it will be quite evident to the bean-counters that I won't be able to reach the brass ring by the end of the second quarter, I am anticipating that I am going to be fired sometime around the middle to latter part of June. Obviously, I am sending out some feelers for another job but I am also aware of the fact that the company would much prefer that I end up submitting my resignation rather than having to fire me since they would not be obligated to offer me a severance package nor would I be eligible to draw unemployment benefits (hence, the not-so-subtle hints). I am also 56 years old and, unless they can show probable cause for dismissal, I have been told that I may have some legal options to exercise against them under California law for age discrimination. Does anyone know if this is true?
Also, certain other employees (especially account executives like me) who have thus far been terminated have been asked to sign non-compete agreements in exchange for a fairly liberal severance package. The other option is to receive no severance package offer and live on unemployment benefits alone if you refuse to sign the non-compete (don't you just love the way corporate America works???
). However, I have also been told that non-compete agreements are unenforceable (in fact, *******) in California and that such agreements are therefore null and void. There is conflicting information on the internet as to whether this is true or not. Does anyone have any specific knowledge or information on this or any direct personal experience with this sort of thing in the state of California? As always, any help at all is most appreciated. Thanks in advance to any and all that are kind enough to take the time and effort to respond. :thumbsup:
