[CA] Separation Agreement for Bad attitude
I was looped into a separation discussion this week for a former associate of mine. Back story, my company was acquired by a PEO last year. We’ve done two major restructuring this far. During the first restructure, two of our associates transferred over to the larger portfolio group as inside sales. One of those has been asking the right questions to ensure she’s understanding the scope and responsibilities of the new structured Inside Sales department. New manager has become annoyed with her and has written her off as having a bad attitude. Fast forward to now they want to proceed with separation agreement for her. But legally I have no support to validate this decision. No documented performance issues for her and now what do I say when I tell her we’re making a decision that is impacting her directly. Associate will not be afraid to ask why we’re making this decision. Senior leaders want to frame this separation as poor performance but we have nothing at least to my knowledge that would say otherwise. We’re going to blind side her with this decision. How can I say this decision is based on overall performances and expectations not being met, if we have t done our job to do right by the associate.
Afraid of her taking legal action if we do proceed with termination.
How risky is this?