United States v. Quality Stores, Inc., 572 U.S. ___, 134 S. Ct. 1377 (2014)

Before and following the filing of an involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Quality Stores and its affiliated companies terminated thousands of employees. The employees received severance payments, and Quality Stores reported those payments as wages on W-2 tax forms, paid the employer’s required share of FICA taxes and withheld the employees’

Perez v. Uline, Inc., 157 Cal. App. 4th 953 (2007)

On the day that Brian Perez, a captain in the United States Marine Corps Reserves, returned to work after duty with the Reserves, his employment with Uline, Inc. was terminated. He was presented with a “Severance Agreement and Release,” offering him severance in the amount of six weeks’ salary in exchange for his execution

Stewart v. U.S. Bancorp, 297 F.3d 953 (9th Cir. 2002)

The employees in this case sued their employer for breach of contract and violation of the Oregon wage law when they were given eight weeks’ severance pay instead of the 12 months’ severance that was provided to “middle management.” The employer removed the case to federal court and moved to dismiss it, asserting that