An E-mail from an ex-WorldCom employee

I was one of many laid off on June 28. WorldCom hurriedly sent me a 'release' packet, saying my severence was contingent on signing this document and getting it back to the company. We needed the money.

I found out shortly thereafter than all salaried employees were denied their final week's paycheck, with WorldCom saying that non-hourly employees were always paid current to the wage dates. This was bull, and we all knew it. The cutoff for WorldCom for time in was always the week prior to the pay date.

Myself and many others I've talked to were also denied their full vacation days pay out.

Now, today, I called the WorldCom hotline to find out about my severence, due to start on July 26, and was treated very shabbily by the rep there. I asked to speak to a supervisor and was told one would call me back...never happened. The gist is that WorldCom isn't going to paying the severence package either, and is refusing to speak to us about it.

According to Texas law, major corporations initiating a major layoff has to notify the employees to be terminated by a margin of sixty days or pay them the difference. I suppose that by my signing that release document, I now can't sue WorldCom. I signed it because I thought I would have ten weeks to find a job....eight weeks severence not including a final week's paycheck with my vacation days added in. We're going to lose our home.

My family is suffering because of all this, and I wish someone would look into what's happening here. Lots of talk about other companies going down the tubes because of WorldCom. What about this criminal behavior towards its own ex-employees?

NAME WITHELD