u/Bizzzybear

So I left a really toxic Executive Assistant job about two months ago. The role had turned into nonstop overwork, weak leadership, and me basically absorbing a manager’s responsibilities while still being expected to keep everything running.

A little while after I left, I heard from former coworkers that some people who left voluntarily had received severance packages because they had been issues with managers or workplace drama and the company didn’t want them to sue. I never got one!

That honestly really pissed me off. I had dealt with a pretty bad situation too, but I wasn’t offered anything. So I reached out and basically said I had heard about the severance packages and felt I deserved to be considered as well.

After some back and forth, they eventually offered me a REALLY small amount compared to others. At that point, it wasn’t even just about the money. It felt like one more disrespectful thing after everything I had already dealt with there.

So I talked to a lawyer to see if I had any options related to the toxic work environment. He basically said that part probably wasn’t the strongest case. But then he looked at my job description and actual duties. And Y’ALL!!

I’ve been classified as exempt, meaning I wasn’t paid overtime. But based on what I actually did day to day, the lawyer said I may have been misclassified. If that’s true, I could potentially be owed much more than the severance amount they offered.

I had no idea how this worked but if you’re misclassified as exempt, you may be able to recover unpaid overtime! There may also be meal break violations, rest break violations, waiting time penalties, and interest.

I regularly worked overtime, often ate lunch at my desk, and didn’t always get real breaks. When the lawyer started adding it all up, it sounded like this could be a much bigger issue than I realized.

I originally just looking for one month severance. But I’m learning I may be owed over 65,000

Has anyone here gone through this before? Did you settle, file with the Labor Commissioner, or go another route? How long did the process take? Would especially love to hear from people who’ve dealt with exempt/non-exempt misclassification

So I left a really toxic Executive Assistant job about two months ago. The role had turned into nonstop overwork, weak leadership, and me basically absorbing a manager’s responsibilities while still being expected to keep everything running.

A little while after I left, I heard from former coworkers that some people who left voluntarily had received severance packages because they had issues with managers or workplace drama and the company didn’t want them to sue. But I never got offered one!

That honestly really pissed me off. I had dealt with a pretty bad situation too, but I wasn’t offered anything. So I reached out and basically said I had heard about the severance packages and felt I deserved to be considered as well.

After some back and forth, they eventually offered me a REALLY small amount compared to others. At that point, it wasn’t even just about the money. It felt like one more disrespectful thing after everything I had already dealt with there.

So I talked to a lawyer to see if I had any options related to the toxic work environment. He basically said that part probably wasn’t the strongest case. But then he looked at my job description and actual duties. And Y’ALL!!

I’ve been classified as exempt, meaning I wasn’t paid overtime. But based on what I actually did day to day, the lawyer said I may have been misclassified. If that’s true, I could potentially be owed much more than the severance amount they offered.

I had no idea how this worked but if you’re misclassified as exempt, you may be able to recover unpaid overtime! There may also be meal break violations, rest break violations, waiting time penalties, and interest.

I regularly worked overtime, often ate lunch at my desk, and didn’t always get real breaks. When the lawyer started adding it all up, it sounded like this could be a much bigger issue than I realized.

I originally just looking for one month severance. But I’m learning I may be owed over 65,000

Has anyone here gone through this before? Did you settle, file with the Labor Commissioner, or go another route? How long did the process take? Would especially love to hear from people who’ve dealt with exempt/non-exempt misclassification overtime.