Catherwood LibraryILR School

In the latest chapter of the WorldCom scandal, a U.S. District Court judge in Washington D.C. agreed yesterday to hold an expedited hearing on Tuesday to answer a request to bar WorldCom from conditioning severance package offers on a waiver of the right to sue. Filed yesterday by attorneys representing WorldCom employees, the request was precipitated by the corporation’s offer of severance pay and paid health insurance to laid off employees who agree not to sue the company or its officers regardless of any wrongdoing that may be discovered in the future. While severance packages in excess of legal and contractual requirements may be conditioned on such waivers, the complete immunity for any actions that might be revealed by a major fraud investigation just getting under way make the WorldCom offer objectionable according to the employees’ lawyer.