Plain-words guide

The group layoff list: the most-checked-never document in severance

If you were let go as part of a group, your agreement should have arrived with a second document — a disclosure, often an attachment or 'exhibit'. Almost nobody reads it. Courts have undone releases over it. Here is what the law requires it to contain, and what to look for.

What the list must contain

Federal law (29 U.S.C. § 626(f)(1)(H)) requires the employer to inform the group in writing of: (1) the group it chose from (the law calls it the decisional unit — a department, a site, a job family); (2) the eligibility factors it used; (3) the time limits of the program; (4) the job titles and ages of everyone selected; and (5) the ages of everyone in the same group who was not selected. All five. In writing. With the agreement, not on request weeks later.

The defects that show up in real cases

The wrong group. In Kruchowski v. Weyerhaeuser (10th Cir. 2005), the disclosure described a decisional unit narrower than the one actually used — the court held the waivers failed. If the "group" on paper does not match the layoff you watched happen, that is a fact to raise.
Age ranges instead of ages. Courts have treated banded ages ("40–49") as failing the requirement — the statute asks for ages.
One list instead of two. Selected-only paperwork omits the comparison the law exists to enable.
No factors, no time limits. Missing eligibility factors or program dates are missing required elements, full stop.

What to do with what you find

First, simply ask — in writing — for the complete disclosure, or for the missing piece. Companies fix paperwork for people who spot problems politely. Second, look at the ages themselves: if the selected list skews sharply older than the not-selected list, that pattern is the fact pattern age-discrimination law exists for, and it belongs in front of an employment attorney before you sign a release of those claims. The kit's Exhibit A audit walks the document line by line and turns every gap into the exact question to raise.

Go deeper

Included in the $49 SeveranceDecoded Kit

The clause-by-clause decoder — every clause in plain words: what it means, what to look for, the exact questions to raise
The paperwork audit (the legal checklist) — every item the law names for workers 40+, checked against your documents
The group layoff list audit (Exhibit A) — titles and ages of who was picked and who was not, checked line by line. No other tool does this
The negotiation playbook — what companies actually move on (money, dates, stock deadlines, the non-compete, your reference) and the words that move them
Ready-to-send scripts: asking for more time, asking for changes, and the change-your-mind letter (revocation)
The red-flag page — the short list of facts that mean a lawyer's paid hour is worth it, and how to find one who does this daily

Get the SeveranceDecoded Kit — $49

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