On October 29^th at 8PM EST (5PM PST) I’m privileged to be interviewing Amy Epstein Feldman who is a nationally syndicated legal correspondent and the general counsel of the Judge Group, Inc.  She is also the co-author of a new book, with the colorful title:  So Sue Me Jackass!    

Oct 29^th is the anniversary of the start of the Great Depression in 1929.  With our own economy still on the ropes and Halloween just around the corner, nothing is more depressing in a trick or treat sort of way than losing a job.  That’s why in honor of the Great Depression and the current recession, our topic on  29^th  will be what to do and say if you think you’re about to be terminated at work.  

Won’t you join me for this complimentary teleseminar?  You can call in from anywhere.  No travel is required.  But first, let me tell you more about Amy Epstein Feldman.

Her strength lies in her ability to explain complex legal issues in a way people can understand.  That’s one reason I wanted to interview her.  Rather than focusing on high-profile trials or Supreme Court decisions like most other TV lawyers, she is an expert in providing legal advice for things that truly matter in your life, like your job.  And that’s one reason you won’t want to miss what she has to say.  Find out what you need to know to say “So Sue Me, Jackass!” with confidence.

To find out more about the program click here now.

In a classic example of what not to do, fellow blogger Michael D. Young tells how iFreedom Communications International Holdings Ltd wound up with a whopping $4.1 billion arbitration award against it in a case involving the termination of a senior level employee without cause.  That’s not a typo.  Seriously, its billions with a big bucks capital B.

In an interview on the topic with the National Law Journal, Young explains how iFreedom ended up on the nosebleed section and had the arbitration award affirmed by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge.  It makes for interesting reading and offers some great legal literacy lessons:

1. Legal literacy lesson #1: Arbitrations are not dress rehearsals.  They are the real deal and can be as binding as a jury trial, if not more binding.  After this decision, you’re bound to see more arbitration clauses including a right of appellate review.

2. Legal literacy lesson #2: fail to produce requested documents at your peril.  If you watch a lot of TV crime dramas and think you have the right against self incrimination — you’re absolutely right — in a criminal case.  But in a civil context, you do have a legal duty to produce self incriminating documents and if you don’t produce them the law rightfully assumes you failed to do so because they’re highly incriminating.  That means ”they can’t prove it” can work against you the same way those missing minutes did on the Watergate tapes. 

Here the defendant failed to produce requested financial information.  The financial data was important because the plaintiff’s compensation agreement said he was going to be paid a commission of 5% of gross sales.  There was also a sweetener in the agreement that provided for commissions to be paid on an ongoing and permanent basis if the employee was terminated without cause. 

Without the company’s financial documents, the arbitrator and the plaintiff looked to available public information about the company’s sales.  What they found was a letter iFreedom sent to its shareholders announcing a monthly revenue of $535,000 and a growth rate of 10% per month.  The information caused the numbers to multiply into the eight figure range very quickly.

3.  Legal literacy lesson #3: know the rules.  Not knowing that negative inferences could be made in a civil case from missing evidence probably had a lot to do with the fact that iFreedom fired its attorney and the owner elected to represent the company.  If you don’t know the rules of evidence and of court, it’s probably best you hire someone who does to represent you.

4.  Legal literacy lesson #4: recognize when you’re in over your head.  One of the challenges of any leadership position is to “know” your limits and what’s outside your area of expertise.  This is a corollary to lesson #3.  When faced with a legal issue, particularly a lawsuit, you need to be represented by competent counsel.  A lawyer would have been able to advise iFreedom about the potential for punitive damages that could, and in this case did, triple, the underlying base award — and that’s how it got to $4.1 billion.

5. Legal literacy lesson #5: check your ego at the door.  Don’t have a hissy fit and not show up at the arbitration the way iFreedom did.  Putting your head in the ground ostrich style only make your hind quarters stand out as a bigger target than it already is.

Avoid iFreedom’s pitfalls and you’ll put yourself and your company in a more defensible position.

It used to be called downsizing or rightsizing, but in today’s economy it’s also been called streamlining, employee simplification, re-engineering, and cost improvement.  If business necessities are requiring reductions in your workforce you’ll want to carefully examine and document the criteria you used in establishing the short list.  Planning ahead avoids claims of illegal discrimination.  Think of it as an investment in shark repellant. 

For a good article on the subject on reductions in force, check out Mary Swanton’s article titled RIF Risks: Companies face layoff liability as the economy falters.

In addition, you’ll also want to review your employee exit procedures to make sure confidential trade secret information doesn’t leave when they do.  If confidentiality agreements have been signed, departing employees should be reminded about their post-employment duty of confidentiality. 

Passwords should be revoked.  I remember one case where a terminated sales person continued to access his voice mail messages and picked up leads in his old territory after he left the company.  It wasn’t until the company noticed a drop in sales in that geography that they realized what happened.

Soft language may soften the blow of losing a job, but if the termination process isn’t handle properly your business can be hit with hidden costs that far exceed any payroll savings.