Laid off 5 months after maternity leave - do i have a case?
I'm trying to figure out whether I should consult an employment attorney about a recent layoff. I've changed a few nonessential details for anonymity, but the general timeline and circumstances are accurate.
I'm in Georgia and was laid off from the small company that I worked for well over 5+ years. I recently returned from maternity leave after having my first baby.
Before I went on leave, I had a full client workload. While I was out, some of my accounts were reassigned to more junior employees to give them opportunities to lead accounts. One client/project ended while I was out, which we knew was going to happen. When I returned, I had WAY fewer accounts than I had before leave, although I was still working on several clients and was also added to a new project.
One of the larger clients I returned to was having business/retention issues, and the business ultimately lost that client (which was one of the biggest clients, it was a big loss). They started reevaluating whether or not to keep my company on while I was out on maternity leave. When I returned, the team I was on was already almost done with the presentation to keep the biz. I wasn't involved at all.
About 2.5 months after I returned from maternity leave, I was laid off.
In the termination meeting, they told me that the company had lost a significant amount of business and that the layoff was not because of my performance or anything I had done. They specifically described it as a business/workload reduction.
The employment agreement I signed when I started includes a termination provision, confidentiality provisions, and client/employee nonsolicitation provisions. The termination paperwork also contains a non-disparagement provision. I have not signed the separation paperwork yet. They are giving me 4 weeks of severance, which I'm not sure is worth signing it? I wasn't paid well to begin with.
The thing I'm struggling with is the timing. I was laid off only about five months after having my baby and returning from maternity leave. Given the timing and the changes to my workload while I was out, I'm wondering whether there are enough facts here that I should have an employment attorney review it.
Does this sound like something worth taking to an employment attorney, or does it sound like a pretty standard legitimate reduction-in-force situation?
Is four weeks of severance typical in this type of situation? I'm thinking I should fight for more? Something like a week or two for every year served?
Should I avoid signing the separation paperwork until an attorney reviews it?
Basically I'm just wondering whether there are enough potential red flags here to justify paying for a consultation with an employment attorney.
Thanks!!!